American singer-songwriter and keyboardist Gregg Allman, who through his Allman Brothers group became one of the pioneers of Southern rock in the 1970s, died at the age of 69 at his home in Savannah, Georgia. The musician’s official website.
Composer of classics like “Midnight Rider”, “Melisa” and “Whipping Post”, Allman was one of the cofounders of a rock-blues sextet that influenced many groups of his generation with melodies that combined the protagonism of the electric guitar with The influence of jazz classics such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
His representative, Michael Lehman, did not specify the cause of his death, although he said that Allman “suffered many health problems for years” due to his past addictions, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, the singer was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1999 And the liver was transplanted in 2010.
“I lost a great friend and the world has lost a brilliant pioneer in music,” Lehman said in the statement.
“He was a kind and sweet soul with the best laugh I’ve ever heard.” His love for his family and bandmates was passionate, just like the affection he had for his extraordinary fans.Gregg was an incredible companion and an even better friend We will all miss it, “added the representative.
Gregg, who as a vocalist played the organ, founded the famous band in 1969 with his brother Duane Allman (guitar), joined by Dickey Betts (guitar), Berry Oakley (bass), Jai Johanny Johanson (drums) And Butch Trucks (drums).
His death comes just four months after Trucks, who was also 69 when he died in West Palm Beach (Florida), where, according to celebrity-focused website TMZ, he committed suicide with a head shot in the presence of his woman.
The band had a successful beginning that culminated with the double disc “At Fillmore East”, recorded live in 1971 in the homonymous hall of New York, that secured a platinum disc.
Weeks after publishing that album, Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident, a tragedy that did not stop his brother Gregg from keeping the group active for four decades, but it did plunge him into a deep addiction to alcohol and drugs, The hallucinogenic mushrooms to cocaine and heroin.
Allman also earned the nickname “Coyotus Maximus” for his seemingly insatiable sexual appetite, and in only three decades he married six times, including a four-year marriage with singer Cher.
The band’s trajectory was tumultuous thereafter, with fights between members, separations and meetings, marked by Allman’s attempts to disengage from drugs.
Born in December of 1947 in Nashville, Tennessee, Gregory LeNoir Allman grew up without a father, who was shot dead when he was only two years old, and at 13 he learned to play the guitar only, but finally he gave it to his brother and Centered on the keyboard.
Of his six marriages (the latter ended in divorce in 2008) and from other relationships came out five children, four of them musicians: the southern rock singer Michael Allman, the leader of the rock band Honeytribe, Devon Allman; Guitarist and heavy metal singer Elijah Blue Allman; And the leader of rock band Picture Me Broken, Layla Brooklyn Allman; In addition to his other daughter, Delilah.
The Allman Brothers Band was selected by Rolling Stones magazine as one of the best of all time, and in 1995 the group entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
