Dickey Betts has died aged 80 (Picture: Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
Dickey Betts, the singer, songwriter and guitarist of the Allman Brothers Band and Southern rock legend, has died at the age of 80.
His family confirmed ‘with heavy hearts’ that the Ramblin’ Man hitmaker passed away in his Florida home on Thursday ‘surrounded’ by loved ones.
They described Betts – real name Richard Betts – as being ‘larger than life’ and the family’s ‘patriarch’.
A statement came via Betts’ Instagram, which read: ‘It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that the Betts family announce the peaceful passing of Forrest Richard ‘Dickey’ Betts (December 12, 1943 – April 18, 2024) at the age of 80 years old.
‘The legendary performer, songwriter, bandleader and family patriarch passed away earlier today at his home in Osprey, FL., surrounded by his family.
‘Dickey was larger than life, and his loss will be felt world-wide.
Betts died of cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Picture: Kirk West/Getty Images)
‘At this difficult time, the family asks for prayers and respect for their privacy in the coming days. More information will be forthcoming at the appropriate time.’
Betts’ manager confirmed to Rolling Stone he died of cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Betts’ musical career began when he picked up a ukulele at the age of four, and he went on to form a band as a teenager, earning a living as a painter and post carrier.
His character was immortalised in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous, as Stillwater guitarist Russell Hammond – played by Billy Crudup. The director later said this character was a ‘tribute’ to Betts.
In the mid-1960s, Betts was recruited by a member of a band called Jokers, who were impressed on hearing him play, and he went on to tour with them before he formed band the Second Coming with bassist Berry Oakley.
Duane Allman met the duo and asked them to join Allman Brothers Band in 1969, alongside his brother Gregg, Butch Trucks, and Jaimoe Johanson.
Originally, Betts was drafted in as a guitarist, but two years after Allman Brothers Band formed lead singer Duane died in a motorbike accident aged 24, and Betts became defacto lead guitarist and frontman.
Though he was said to be uncomfortable with this role, Betts proved himself a skilled songwriter and vocalist, as he wrote and sang the band’s greatest hit, Ramblin’ Man.
The band have been plagued with tragedy, with two members – Duane Allman and Berry Oakley dying aged 24 in separate motorbike crashes (Picture: Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
He also wrote Revival and the memorable instrumental in In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.
In 1976 the group split, and Betts formed Dicky Betts and Great Southern, but it didn’t reach the heights of Allman Brothers Band, and they reformed two years later, only to split again.
The initial falling out is reported to be due to Gregg testifying against one of the band’s employees in a drug trial.
After some years apart, Allman Brothers Band reunited for their 20th anniversary, and continued their success into the 1990s – being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and winning a Grammy.
However tension between Gregg and Betts grew, and in 1993 the latter was briefly ejected from the band because of a brawl with the police.
It’s reported Gregg told Betts via fax he was being replaced in 2000.
Betts went on to release a solo album called Let’s Get Together.
He is survived by four children – Kimberly, Christy, Jessica and Duane.
Johanson is the only surviving member of the band, after Gregg died of cancer in 2017 and Trucks two months before.
Oakley also died aged 24 in a mororcycle collision not far from where Duane also crashed 13 months before. They are buried alongside each other in Rosehill Cemetery in Macon
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