Dickey Betts, influential Allman Brothers Band singer, songwriter, and guitarist, dead at 80

Dickey Betts, a founding member of the renowned rock group the Allman Brothers Band, died at his home in Osprey, Florida on Thursday. The influential guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist had been battling two kinds of cancer as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He was 80 years old.

The news was shared on Betts’ official website in a statement by his family.

Born Forrest Richard Betts on December 12, 1943, the Bradenton native was raised in a musical family, learning to play various stringed instruments at an early age. He began playing in rock bands that toured Florida and the East Coast, forming Second Coming with future Allman Brothers Band bassist Berry Oakley in 1967.

While working as a session musician in Muscle Shoals, Ala., Duane Allman began putting a band together that included Oakley and, through this connection, Betts. In 1969, after Duane convinced his brother Gregg Allman to return to the South from Los Angeles to sign and play organ, the Allman Brothers Band was born, with Duane and Betts playing guitar, Oakley on bass and Butch Trucks and John Lee Johnson, known by his stage names Jai Johanny Johanson or, simply Jaimoe, on drums.

To the uninitiated, it might appear that Duane — who pioneered the slide guitar and was the driving force behind the band — was the lead guitarist, but Duane and Betts shared that responsibility, building off of each other’s work and improvising complex harmonies.

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