The Allman Brothers Band

With their bluesy jams and Southern rock anthems, The Allman Brothers Band took their brand of soaring Americana from smoky bar-room jukeboxes to heaving stadiums and chart-topping success in the 1970s. Built around Gregg Allman's songs and brother Duane's searing guitar, the siblings grew up playing together in Jacksonville, Florida in the 1960s and worked as session musicians before teaming up with Dickey Betts (guitar), Berry Oakley (bass), and Butch Trucks (drums) for debut album The Allman Brothers Band (1969). Inspired by British Invasion blues bands such as The Yardbirds and Cream, the brothers brought their own distinctive, sunbaked, free-spirited, good time take on the genre and, alongside Lynyrd Skynyrd, became architects of what became known as Southern rock with classic breakthrough album At Fillmore East (1971). Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident in 1971, followed by Berry Oakley’s similar death in 1972, but the band went on to release Eat a Peach (1972) and the US number 1 album Brothers and Sisters (1973), which featured the hit single "Ramblin' Man" and the iconic classic rock track “Jessica.” The group broke up in 1976 but reunited in 1978 for another four-year run before going their separate ways again in 1982. The Allman Brothers Band reunited again in 1989 and continued to tour and record sporadically until 2014 with several different line-up changes. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 by Willie Nelson. The Allman Brothers remained one of America's great touring acts and celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2009 by playing with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Kid Rock and, in 2012, they were honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Original drummer Butch Trucks committed suicide on January 24, 2017, at the age of 69. Gregg Allman died from liver cancer on May 27, 2017, at the age of 69. Guitarist Dickie Betts, who had been booted from the band in 2000, died from cancer and OPD on April 18, 2024, at the age of 80. The group’s recorded legacy has continued to be celebrated with reissues, live archive releases, and compilations including A Decade of Hits 1969 – 1979 (1991), Mycology: An Anthology (1998), Stand Back: The Anthology (2004), and Trouble No More: 50th Anniversary Collection (2020).

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