Vince Welnick

Vincent Leo Welnick (February 21, 1951 – June 2, 2006) was an American keyboardist and singer-songwriter, best known for playing with the band The Tubes during the 1970s and 1980s and with the Grateful Dead in the 1990s.

When Grateful Dead keyboardist Brent Mydland died of a drug overdose on July 26, 1990, the band began auditioning players to replace him, including Ian McLagan, Pete Sears and T Lavitz.

[1] His Associated Press obituary mentioned he was so nervous at his first gig with the band that he could barely play, until the fans put him at ease.

Welnick remained as a member of the Grateful Dead and the band's keyboard player until Jerry Garcia's death in August 1995, when the group disbanded.

He worked with the band Second Sight,[3] with Bob Bralove, and with Missing Man Formation, which released an album that included the song "Golden Days", a tribute to Garcia.

He participated in the second Phil Lesh and Friends show in March 1998, and he toured the US with the Mickey Hart Band later that year.

According to musician and publisher Mike Lawson, Welnick was troubled when they reunited without him under the term the "surviving members of Grateful Dead".