Marty Balin

NEW YORK — Marty Balin, a patron of the 1960s “San Francisco Sound” as founder and lead singer of the Jefferson Airplane, has died at 76.

The Airplane was the breakout act among such San Francisco-based artists as the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin. The San Francisco Sound was a psychedelic blend of blues, folk, rock and jazz, and the musical expression of the emerging hippie lifestyle.

In the mid-1970s, when the Airplane regrouped as the more mainstream Jefferson Starship, Balin sang lead on such hits as “Miracles” (which he co-wrote), “With Your Love” and “Count On Me.” He later had solo success with “Hearts” and “Atlanta Lady.” The Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, but Balin would long have mixed feelings. Pride in the band’s achievements was shadowed by its eventual breakup and by Balin’s acknowledged jealousy of Grace Slick, the other lead vocalist.

Slick joined the group, before it recorded “Surrealistic Pillow.” She displaced Balin as the perceived leader and on the songs “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.”