Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of death.
Dickey Betts, co-founding member of The Allman Brothers Band who was responsible for the band’s biggest hit Ramblin’ Man, has died at the age of 80. Betts’ manager told Rolling Stone that the musician passed away on Thursday, April 18th, from cancer. Betts had been battling cancer for more than a year and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Spero said.
“He was surrounded by his whole family and he passed peacefully. They didn’t think he was in any pain,” Spero said.
Who was Dicky Betts?
Dicky Betts was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer best known as a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band.
Early in his career, he collaborated with Duane Allman, introducing melodic twin guitar harmony and counterpoint which “rewrote the rules for how two rock guitarists can work together, completely scrapping the traditional rhythm/lead roles to stand toe to toe”. Following Allman’s death in 1971, Betts assumed sole lead guitar duties during the peak of the group’s commercial success in the mid-1970s.
Betts was the writer and singer on the Allmans’ hit single Ramblin’ Man. He also gained renown for composing instrumentals, with one appearing on most of the group’s albums, including In Memory of Elizabeth Reed and Jessica.
The band went through a hiatus in the late 1970s, during which time Betts, like many of the other band members, pursued a solo career and side projects under such names as Great Southern and The Dickey Betts Band. The Allman Brothers reformed in 1979, with Dan Toler taking the second guitar role alongside Betts.
In 1982, they broke up a second time, during which time Betts formed the group Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks, which lasted until 1984. A third reformation occurred in 1989, with Warren Haynes now joining Betts on guitar.
Betts was ousted from the band in 2000 over a conflict regarding his continued drug and alcohol use; he never played with them again nor would he appear with other former band members for reunions or side projects. With the death of Betts in April 2024, Jaimoe is the last living founder of the Allman Brothers Band.
He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won a Best Rock Performance Grammy Award with the band for Jessica in 1996. Betts was ranked No. 58 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list in 2003, and No. 61 on the list published in 2011.
Betts married his fifth wife, Donna, in 1989. He had four children: Kimberly, Christy, Jessica, and Duane. Christy is married to Frank Hannon of the band Tesla. Jessica is the namesake of Betts’ instrumental. Duane, named for Betts’ former bandmate Duane Allman, is also a musician and performed and recorded with his father.
Although he briefly resided in Georgia during the formative years of the Allman Brothers Band, he lived in Florida’s Sarasota metropolitan area for most of his life.
Dicky Betts passes away at the age of 80
Dickey Betts died on Thursday, April 18th in Osprey, Fla., aged 80.
His family posted a statement on Instagram, writing, “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.”
The Allman Brothers Band also expressed their sorrow in a statement. “His extraordinary guitar playing alongside guitarist Duane Allman created a unique dual guitar signature sound that became the signature sound of the genre known as Southern Rock,” the band wrote in a statement. “He was passionate in life, be it music, songwriting, fishing, hunting, boating, golf, karate, or boxing. Dickey was all in on and excelled at anything that caught his attention.”
In 2017, Betts looked back at his life with no regrets, telling Rolling Stone: “I’ve had a great life and I don’t have any complaints,” he said at the time. “If I could do it again, I don’t know what I could do to make it different. There are lawsuits I probably could have dealt with better. But so what? You have to get in there and fight and do the best with your amount of time.”
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