Explore Ron Pigpen McKernan's biography, personal life, family and cause of death. Brent Mydland. Delaware's premier jam band. CORTE MADERA, Calif. — Ron McKernan — better known as Pigpen — was found dead in his apartment here March 8th. Ron McKernan, Soundtrack: The Dreamers. McKernan was born in San Bruno, California to an R&B DJ. While making the rounds on the early-'60s coffeehouse circuit in San Mateo, CA, McKernan met up with the man who would give him the everlasting nickname of Pigpen: Jerry Garcia. We all were telling him not to drink, for years. https://www.geni.com/people/Ron-Pigpen-McKernan/6000000034842914770 Read Full Biography. Although Constanten nominally replaced founding keyboardist Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, the latter musician stayed on with the band as a frontman-percussionist; in light of their mutual abstinence from psychedelics, they became "as close as two heterosexual males could be," shared a house in Novato, California, and bunked together while touring. Profilo: September 8, 1945 – March 8, 1973 McKernan was born in San Bruno, California to an R&B DJ. Jimi Hendrix performs at the Isle of White Festival in 1970. Credit: Evening Standard/Getty Images And Alan Wilson, Jesse Belvin, Rudy Lewis, Gary Thain, Kristen Pfaff, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan… Studio efforts featuring Pigpen include a self-titled Warner Bros. release in 1967 and the seminal American Beauty in 1970. They have grown to be a regional favorite on the jam band circuit over the past 5 years and are currently working on their first studio album. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan of American rock band The Grateful Dead on April 4th, 1972. He had apparently been dead for two days. “Well, he drank himself to death. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan A poem entitled Kathy in Ron McKernan's hand, written in blue ballpoint pen on a sheet of lined notebook paper, signed R.C. Ronald Charles McKernan, known as Pigpen, was an American singer and musician. In 1971 McKernan first fell ill and for about a year seldom played with the Dead. There were lots of roast fowls around, turkeys and other kinds; and ham, roast beef, salad. About 200 people attended, nearly all of them friends from the Acid Test and Dead family scene, including Ken Kesey and head Merry Prankster Ken Babbs. Then he got sick, and he couldn’t drink any more. Ron “Pigpen” McKernan was an American, singer, songwriter, and musician. $866. OAITW r.2.0: Oct 13 #1: well, that's a toe tapper. A look at the life and death of one of the Grateful Dead’s founding members. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. Ron McKernan — better known as “Pigpen” — was born on Sept. 8, 1945, in San Bruno, Calif. His father was one of the first white rhythm and blues disc jockeys, and so McKernan grew up amidst black music and culture, which would influence him later on. OAITW r.2.0 (5,433 posts) 1. He was a founding member of the San Francisco band the Grateful Dead and played in the group from 1965 to 1972. Starting a rock band was actually Ron McKernan's idea, and he was its first front man, delivering stinging harmonica, keyboards, and beautiful blues vocals in the early years of the Warlocks/Grateful Dead. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan A poem entitled Kathy in Ron McKernan's hand, written in blue ballpoint pen on a sheet of lined notebook paper, signed R.C. A photo of the band perched on the porch of a house on the famed Ashbury -- complete with a shotgun-wielding Pigpen -- only brought on more comparisons to outlaws. After the Dead toured Europe in 1972, Pigpen could no longer tour with the band. Artist Biography by Rachel Sprovtsoff From his biker good looks to his gruff, dusty voice, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan managed to work that combination into one of the '60s most encompassing jam bands. 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