According to lyricist Hunter, Lesh "wanted a song to sing to his dying father and had composed a piece complete with every vocal nuance but the words.
"[2] Lesh practiced the song driving to the nursing home where his father lay with terminal cancer.
In an interview, Steve Silberman asked Hunter, "The song 'Box of Rain' began as a rough vocal outline from Phil Lesh.
'"[4] "Box of Rain" debuted on September 17, 1970, at the Fillmore East in New York City during the acoustic portion of the show.
Over 750 concerts after its last performance, "Box of Rain" was revived on March 20, 1986, at the Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.
Before Jerry Garcia's death, "Box of Rain" was the last song ever performed live at a Grateful Dead concert, during the final encore at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 9, 1995.
Dead-inspired jam band Phish opened its October 25, 2024, concert in Albany, New York with "Box of Rain" in tribute to Lesh, who had died earlier that day.