Donna Thatcher Godchaux began her career as a background vocalist while still a student at Sheffield High School.
She worked recording sessions not only in the Muscle Shoals music industry,
but also in Memphis and Nashville, where she recorded with Elvis Presley.
In the early 1970's she met and married Keith Godchaux, a keyboard player in
California. Soon after the couple joined the Grateful Dead in San Francisco and toured
and recorded with that group until 1979. Among the albums the Godchauxs appear on
are, "Europe '72", "Wake of the Flood", "From The Mars Hotel", "Blues for Allah",
"Terrapin Station" and "What A Long Strange Trip It's Been".
A year after leaving the Grateful Dead, Keith Godchaux was killed in a tragic
auto accident.
During their tenure with the group, The Grateful Dead played three concerts at the foot of the Great Pyramid in
Egypt. It was the first time the Department of Antiquities of Egypt had allowed such an
event to be staged in that location.
She has returned to the Shoals area of Alabama and is active in the Christian
community. A new CD of postive songs was released in 1998.
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