An American keyboard player, best known for playing for the Grateful Dead from 1990 until their end in 1995.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Welnick started playing keyboards as a teenager. He joined a band, The Beans, which eventually morphed into The Tubes, a San Francisco-based theatre rock band, popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, legendary for early live performances that combined quasi-pornography with wild satires of media, consumerism and politics. While playing in the Tubes, he also played with Todd Rundgren.

When Brent Mydland, keyboard player with the Grateful Dead, died of a drug overdose in July 1990, and after auditioning several players, including Pete Sears and T. Lavitz, Welnick was selected, not least for his high vocal range for backup harmonies. He remained as the band's keyboard player until Jerry Garcia's death in August 1995, when the group disbanded.

During a stint with Ratdog, Vince became very depressed with the loss of Garcia and he attempted suicide about 6 months after Garcia's death, effectively ending any future creative interaction between him and what was left of the Grateful Dead.

In 2002, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and Phil Lesh regrouped under the name The Dead. Welnick was not asked to participate, which troubled him. His contributions to Grateful Dead music were not always appreciated, but the keyboard tones that he was required to play may have something to do with this.

Subsequently, Welnick became involved in solo efforts, formed and played in the band Missing Man Formation, and had a brief stint with the Mickey Hart Band. In June 2006, Welnick killed himself by drawing a knife across his own throat.