Remembering Phil Lesh: Deadheads Descend On 'Grateful Dead House' In San Francisco After Bassist's Death

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Deadheads descended Friday on the Haight-Ashbury house the band called home in the 1960s to say goodbye to Grateful Dead founder Phil Lesh.

“They had a very big impact on our lives. And so I like to think about the happy memories,” said Joan Durbin, who was visiting from Atlanta with her husband.

“When we heard the news that Phil had passed away, we decided we wanted to come here to pay our respects,” she said. “It’s like watching some of your friends get older and everyone gets older, and so people die while the music goes on,” added Mark Durbin.

And the music sounded across the street in a Volkswagen van.

“It’s surreal, I mean the dead got old,” Johnny Greavu said. “I thought this day would come, but not so soon.”

Phil Lesh, bassist and founder of the iconic Bay Area band The Grateful Dead, has died at the age of 84.

The band symbolizes the counterculture movement of the 1960s.

“When you look at that house and think about the people who went up and down those stairs and those special years, that was a very special moment,” Michael Seiler said.

“Deadheads they are, you know, it’s where all the runaways, the outcasts, the addicts,” Greavu said. “It’s a whole community of misfits in a way and it’s a home for a lot of people who don’t feel like they have a home.”

The band’s music defines a generation and inspires generations of fans to follow.

“The energy from that time is still there, you can feel it. We’re in a van, there are people walking the streets who know this music, it just never stops,” Seiler said.