The Allman Brothers Band's Dickey Betts Dies At 80 In FL

OSPREY, FL — The Allman Brothers Band's Dickey Betts died Thursday of an unknown cause while at his Osprey home, his family announced on Instagram. He was 80.

Betts, whose real name is Forrest Richard Betts, was a legendary guitarist, songwriter and co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band.

"Dickey was larger than life, and his loss will be felt worldwide. 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," the Betts family wrote on Instagram.

David Spero, Bett's longtime manager, told the Associated Press that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer had faced a more than year long cancer battle and had developed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. An official cause of death has not been released.

“He was surrounded by his whole family and he passed peacefully. They didn’t think he was in any pain,” Spero told the news outlet.

Betts was born on Dec. 12, 1943 in West Palm Beach, according to his IMDB biography. When the Allman Brothers Band formed in 1969, Betts was its oldest member.

He played guitar alongside band founder and leader Duane Allman, bassist Berry Oakley, drummers Jaimoe and Butch Trucks and Allman's younger brother, lead singer and organist Gregg, according to his biography.

Variety reported the band would mix blues, rock and country in their work.

"With his first contributions in 1970 to their repertoire, Betts proved himself an able composer of both instrumental and non-instrumental songs. After Duane Allman's death in 1971, he became co-leader and co-singer of the group with Gregg Allman. Starting in 1973, he became the Brothers' primary songwriter, until they disbanded in 1976 due to Gregg Allman's drug problems. Re-forming in 1979 and again in 1989, the group continued to rely on Betts to write songs, play guitar and occasionally sing for them... until, that is, he was asked to leave the group due to an alleged drinking problem in mid-2000," read his IMDB biography.

The Allman Brothers Band had one top 10 hit, "Ramblin Man, on the Billboard Hot 100 - which peaked at No. 2 in October 1973. The notable song spent 16 weeks on the chart. The band had 10 songs total to enter the Hot 100 chart.