On This Day In Alabama History: Donna Jean Godchaux Was Born In Florence

By Graydon Rust
Alabama 200

August 22, 1947

Singer Donna Jean Godchaux was born in Florence. Godchaux worked as a session singer in Muscle Shoals and recorded with artists such as Boz Scaggs, Cher and Neil Diamond. While in Muscle Shoals, she appeared as a backup singer on two Billboard No. 1 hit songs, “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge in 1966 and “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis Presley in 1969. She later became a member of her husband’s band, the Grateful Dead, performing as a backup and lead vocalist from 1972 to 1979. Godchaux was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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