Jerry Garcia, a leader of the Grateful Dead rock and roll group for 30 years, died August 9, 1995. He was 53.

Garcia was born August 1, 1942 in San Francisco, California. A high school dropout, Garcia spent a short time in the U.S. Army from 1960-61. Given a general discharge, he moved to Palo Alto, California, and began to play folk and bluegrass music.

In 1965, he and some of his friends organized a band called the Warlocks. They changed the name to The Grateful Dead in December of that year.

When band member Ron McKerman (Pigpen) died in the mid 1970’s, the band disbanded for a brief time before reorganizing with Garcia as its leader.

Garcia and other members of the band experimented with LSD when it was legal in the 1960’s and 70’s. Garcia also became a heroin addict, and went into periodic treatment for his addiction.

The Grateful Dead was a popular band, but never had the commercial success of having a succession of Top Ten hits. During the 30-year history of the band, the only Top Ten record they released was Touch of Grey in 1987. But their performances and their groupies, called Deadheads, were legendary. They would play marathon sessions at concerts. They were one of the groups at the 1969 Woodstock gathering.

Garcia’s health was precarious during most of the band’s history. He collapsed in 1986 and was diagnosed with diabetes. After their last album, Built to Last, was released in 1989, Garcia was hospitalized for exhaustion in 1991.

The next year, the band canceled some of its concert dates due to Garcia’s health problems.

They played their last date on July 9, 1995 in Chicago. Garcia was hospitalized at a drug treatment center in Forest Knolls, California soon after the Chicago concert.

He died at the center of a heart attack on August 9, 1995. The band disbanded in December of the same year.