Ronald Charles McKernan, known as Pigpen, was an American musician. He was a founding member of the San Francisco band the Grateful Dead and played in the group from 1965 to 1972.
McKernan in 1968
McKernan's headstone in Alta Mesa Memorial Park. The inscription reads "Pigpen was and is now forever one of the Grateful Dead".
Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world music with psychedelia, the improvisation of their live performances, and its devoted fan base, known as "Deadheads". According to the musician and writer Lenny Kaye, the band's music "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists." For the range of their influences and the structure of their live performances, Grateful Dead are considered "the pioneering godfathers of the jam band world".
Grateful Dead in 1980. Left to right: Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh. Not pictured: Brent Mydland.
The Mantra-Rock Dance promotional poster featuring Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead performing at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in 1987
Bob Weir playing his Modulus G3FH guitar in 2007
