Lawyer for the Grateful Dead dies

Principle attorney for the legendary rock band Grateful Dead, Harold Kant has died at the age of 77 reports mercurynews.com.

His son Jonas told the Los Angeles Times that his father died at his Reno, Nevada, home back on October 19 due to Pancreatic cancer.

Jonas, a fellow music lawyer and senior vice president at Sony/ATV Music Publishing said, that his father helped to protect the band.

"He oversaw every aspect of their business, whether licensing, touring, trademarks, merchandise or (Jerry) Garcia getting busted for drugs."

The Harvard Law graduate turned the band into a business says his son, "They were known for being a free-loving, peace-loving band, but he helped them run everything like a structured business."

Also according to his son, Kant started representing the band in 1971 and looked over publishing contracts making sure the band's master recordings would be owned by the band.

The Band's co-founder Bob Weir issued a statement paying tribute to how much Harold had contributed to the band's success.

"The Grateful Dead was known for its revolutionary approach to the music industry, and Hal was part and parcel of that." Weir says. "We wanted a place for humanity in a business that more resembled a nightmare circus than much else, and he helped us find it."