Jerry Miller dies at 81: Moby Grape co-founder and '60s 'legendary' guitarist honored by family

TACOMA, WASHINGTON: Country legend songwriter-guitarist Jerry Miller died at the age of 81 on Saturday, July 20.

Miller died at his beloved hometown of Tacoma, Washington. The news of his death was confirmed by his wife, Jo Miller.

Jerry Miller's wife Jo Miller confirmed his death 

Miller’s wife, Jo, shared a text on Moby Grape's Facebook page on Sunday, July 21. “Everybody flood the ether with Jerry Miller’s music. Play it all day long for me and him. And thank you all so much,” she wrote in the post.

The talent of Miller, Moby Grape's lead guitarist, was acknowledged by Rolling Stone and was listed 68th on a ranking of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Miller was also best known for co-writing Moby Grape's 'Hey Grandma,' and 'Murder in My Heart for the Judge.'

Miller was loved by several A-listers in the industry, including Eric Clapton, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, and Taj Mahal. He was admired by both Jimmy Page and Robert Plant equally.

The Washington native was born in 1943 and worked initially with local Tacoma bands such as Elegants, the Incredible Kingsmen, and the Frantics.

Moby Grape band broke up just after three years of its existence in 1969, according to Variety.

“When we first started rehearsing, we just sounded so good,” he said in an interview in 2016 while talking about the band’s three-guitar approach.

He added that the approach was “more different than anything i’d ever experienced. Three guitars — i’d barely ever layed with more than me! it was great, and right then, we knew we had something. We laughed al the way home.” 

“We said, ‘This is gonna be good.’ And it was, until some things went haywire. … We all sang, we all wrote, and we thought, ‘Hell, there’s no end to the possibilities here.’ We were all young and handsome,” Miller further said. 

Jerry Miller's daughter Sarah Kabbani recalls growing up with him

Miller’s his daughter, Sarah Kabbani, also paid a heartfelt tribute to her father on Facebook. “To live with a legend…..and be the first-born kid in a wild time of some epic partying and revolutionary music," she wrote in the post.

“Late night jam sessions, getting to sneak into a gig here and there. Jerry (Garcia) letting me stay up after Michan (her mother) went to sleep, hiding me under pillows on the couch if she woke up, so I could stay up late with him and listen to him play," she further shared.

"Afternoons of mowing and fluffing the lawn together. Building a giant train set in the barn. And buffing our bicycles to ride to the store for snacks. At one point I thought he was making me do too many chores. At another point I finally realized he just wanted me to do everything with him. We just saw him in SF and I’m so thankful now. He gave me a big smooch and told me I was da mos buutiful girl,” Kabbani concluded her post.