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Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, a former singer for the Grateful Dead , has died at 78, Fox News Digital confirmed.

Godchaux-MacKay passed away on Nov. 2, surrounded by her family at Alive Hospice in Nashville after a lengthy battle with cancer.

"She was a sweet and warmly beautiful spirit, and all those who knew her are united in loss. The family requests privacy at this time of grieving. In the words of Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, ‘May the four winds blow her safely home,’" her representative said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Godchaux-MacKay was born in Florence, Alabama. Throughout her career, she was a background vocalist on two No. 1 songs – Percy Sledge’s "When a Man Loves a Woman" and Elvis Presley’s "Suspi

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