Phil Lesh

Phil Lesh, whose expansive approach to the bass as a charter member of the Grateful Dead made him one of the first performers on that instrument in a rock band to play a lead role rather than a supporting one, died on Friday. He was 84. Phillip Chapman Lesh was born on March 15, 1940, in Berkeley, Calif., the only child of Frank and Barbra (Chapman) Lesh. Lesh is survived by his wife, Jill; their two sons, Grahame and Brian, who had played with him in the Terrapin Family Band; and a grandson.