Singer Donna Jean Godchaux (The Grateful Dead) died on Nov. 3. She was 78. Godchaux was a backup singer (with a strong mezzo-soprano voice) for such artists as Percy Sledge (“When a Man Loves a Woman”), Elvis Presley (“Suspicious Minds,” “In the Ghetto”), Boz Scaggs, Duane Allman, Cher, Neil Diamond, and others; she sang with The Grateful Dead from 1972-79, and with the Jerry Garcia Band, the Heart of Gold Band, and her own Donna Jean Godchaux Band. She was married (from 1970 till his death ten years later) to Grateful Dead pianist Keith Godchaux, then to bass player David MacKay. Godchaux told Rolling Stone that she was star-struck at singing with Presley: “When we were singing, we were so professional — we didn’t bat an eye. We had our picture taken with him after the session, and then we went into the International House of Pancakes in Memphis and screamed bloody murder for about an hour, holding up that little Polaroid picture of us and Elvis together.”
