This certainly helped, but they were already on their way. The jam band scene, as lame as it might have been, was a hot trend in the mid nineties into the ear

This certainly helped, but they were already on their way. The jam band scene, as lame as it might have been, was a hot trend in the mid nineties into the early 2000's and I think Phish benefitted as much from this as they did Jerry's passing.