Performance · Other credits

Ron "Pigpen" Mckernan

real name Ronald Charles McKernan

San Bruno, United States

Ron "Pigpen" Mckernan is credited on 128 albums across 671 pressings tracked on Gatefold, active 1967–2024 — the collector-built map of who actually made the music.

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128

Albums

671

Pressings

Decades active

852

In collections

Biography

source

September 8, 1945 – March 8, 1973
McKernan was born in San Bruno, California, to an R&B DJ. He became a fixture on the San Francisco coffee house scene that spawned the Grateful Dead and their contemporaries, going on to play in every recording incarnation of the band. Over the years Pigpen contributed vocals, Hammond organ, harmonica, percussion, and some guitar. His heavy drinking led to severe health problems beginning in 1970, which forced him to perform only intermittently. He joined the band on the Europe '72 tour but had to quit touring upon returning home. He died of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage the following spring.

Bio from Discogs