Gregg Allman, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, the incendiary group that inspired and gave shape to both the Southern rock and jam-band movements, died on Saturday at his home in Savannah, Ga. He was 69.

His publicist, Ken Weinstein, said the cause was complications of liver cancer.

The band’s lead singer and keyboardist, Mr. Allman was one of the principal architects of a taut, improvisatory fusion of blues, jazz, country and rock that — streamlined by inheritors like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band — became the Southern rock of the 1970s.

[ Listen to 10 definitive Gregg Allman songs ]

The group, which originally featured Mr. Allman’s older brother, Duane, on lead and slide guitar, was also a precursor to a generation of popular jam bands, like Widespread Panic and Phish, whose music features labyrinthine instrumental exchanges.

Mr. Allman’s percussive Hammond B-3 organ playing helped anchor the Allman Brothers’ rhythm section and provided a chuffing counterpoint to the often heated musical interplay between his brother and the band’s other lead guitarist, Dickey Betts.</s>Gregg Allman, one of the founding members of the Allman Brothers Band, died at his home in Savannah, Georgia, according to a statement released on the musician’s website.

“Gregg struggled with many health issues over the past several years. During that time, Gregg considered being on the road playing music with his brothers and solo band for his beloved fans, essential medicine for his soul. Playing music lifted him up and kept him going during the toughest of times,” the statement read.

Allman had canceled tour dates scheduled for this year due to health issues.

“I have lost a dear friend and the world has lost a brilliant pioneer in music. He was a kind and gentle soul with the best laugh I ever heard. His love for his family and bandmates was passionate as was the love he had for his extraordinary fans. Gregg was an incredible partner and an even better friend. We will all miss him,” Allman’s manager and friend Michael Lehman said in the statement on Allman’s website.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member rose to fame with The Allman Brothers Band, ushering Southern rock to the forefront of rock ‘n’ roll with his brother Duane.

Gregg Allman, who sang, played keyboards and guitar, wrote some of the band’s most famous songs, including “Whipping Post,” “Midnight Rider” and “Melissa.”

The Allman Brothers’ live sets, were the stuff of legend, as the group jammed for hours. And being on stage was essential for Allman.

“It’s part of my life’s blood – it really is,” Allman said during a 2007 interview with The Press-Enterprise.

As a solo artist, his 1987 album “I’m No Angel” went gold, with the title track becoming a hit. It was among the songs he performed at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio in 2015.

Allman is survived by wife Shannon, and children Devon, Elijah Blue, Delilah Island Kurtom and Layla Brooklyn Allman as well as grandchildren and his extended family, according to the statement on Allman’s website.</s>SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A publicist for rock legend Gregg Allman says the organist and singer for The Allman Brothers Band has died. He was 69.

Ken Weinstein confirmed Saturday that Allman died at his home in Savannah, Georgia.

Allman had cancelled some 2016 tour dates for health reasons. In March 2017, he canceled performances for the rest of the year.

After years of substance abuse, Allman contracted hepatitis C and underwent a 2010 liver transplant.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Allman was raised in Florida by a single mother after his father was shot to death.

He and his older brother Duane formed the nucleus of The Allman Brothers Band. It featured tight guitar harmonies by Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, a pair of drummers and the smoky, blues inflected voice of Gregg Allman.</s>Gregg Allman, frontman and co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band and a trailblazer of Southern Rock, died at age 69 Saturday.

The cause of the musician's death was not disclosed.

"It is with deep sadness that we announce that Gregg Allman, a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, passed away peacefully at his home in Savannah, Georgia," read a message posted on his official website. "Gregg struggled with many health issues over the past several years. During that time, Gregg considered being on the road playing music with his brothers and solo band for his beloved fans, essential medicine for his soul. Playing music lifted him up and kept him going during the toughest of times."

Gregg is survived by wife Shannon Allman; children Devon, Elijah Blue—his son with Cher, Delilah Island Kurtom and Layla Brooklyn Allman; three grandchildren, niece Galadrielle Allman, lifelong friend Chank Middleton and a large extended family.

"IVE TRIED… WORDS ARE IMPOSSIBLE GUI GUI FOREVER, CHOOCH," tweeted Cher, who was married to the rocker for more than three years in the '70s.</s>The Allman Brothers Band frontman Gregg Allman has died, according to his personal website.

According to Billboard, Allman was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1999 and underwent a liver transplant in 2010.

Allman died at his home in Savannah, Georgia, according to a statement posted to his official website. The statement says Allman had struggled with many health issues over the past several years.

Allman’s longtime manager and close friend said, “I have lost a dear friend and the world has lost a brilliant pioneer in music.”

Allman started The Allman Brothers Band with his brother, Duane. Duane Allman passed away in a motorcycle crash in 1971, when he was 24 years old.</s>Washington: Gregg Allman, the powerfully bluesy and hard-jamming singer and songwriter who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and emerged as a pioneer of Southern rock, has died at the age of 69.

Allman died peacefully at his home in Savannah, Georgia, according to a statement posted Saturday on his website.

No cause of death was immediately given, but the statement said he had "struggled with many health issues over the past several years."

Allman, who played keyboard and guitar and sang with a rich, growling voice, was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1999 and underwent a liver transplant in 2010, Billboard reported on its website.

Allman's older brother Duane, a co-founder of the group and legendary guitar player, died in a motorcycle accident in 1971 at the age of 24, just as the band was enjoying its first big taste of success.

The group's music merged blues, jazz, country and rock with a meandering improvisational style that made jamming at concerts one of their trademarks.

Rolling Stone magazine said the Allman Brothers style created "a template for countless subsequent jam bands."

The Allman Brothers Band's southern rock sound is also credited with inspiring later groups such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band.

Gregg Allman, known for his gentle manner and long blond hair parted in the center, went on to front the band on his own for decades after his brother's death. The group was popular particularly in the 1970s.

Billboard said that since Nielsen Music began tracking point-of-sale music purchases in 1991, the Allman Brothers Band has sold 9.3 million albums in the United States.

A 22-minute version of 'Whipping Post' was a highlight of the group's popular 1971 live album At Fillmore East.

Allman struggled for years with heroin addiction and substance abuse and went into rehab several times before getting clean in the 1990s.

As a member of the band he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. And in 2012, also along with the rest of the band, Allman received a Grammy award for lifetime achievement.

"I have lost a dear friend and the world has lost a brilliant pioneer in music," Allman's longtime manager and friend Michael Lehman was quoted as saying in US media reports.

"He was a kind and gentle soul with the best laugh I ever heard. His love for his family and bandmates was passionate as was the love he had for his extraordinary fans."</s>SAVANNAH, Ga. — Music legend Gregg Allman, whose bluesy vocals and soulful touch on the Hammond B-3 organ helped propel the Allman Brothers Band to superstardom and spawn Southern rock, died Saturday, a publicist said. He was 69.

Allman died Saturday at his home in Savannah, Georgia, publicist Ken Weinstein said.

Allman had cancelled some 2016 tour dates, announcing on Aug. 5 that he was "under his doctor's care at the Mayo Clinic'' due to "serious health issues.'' Later that year, he cancelled more dates citing a throat injury. And in March 2017, he cancelled performances for the rest of the year.



 Gregg Allman performs onstage at the 2016 Laid Back Fest at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on July 23, 2016. (Photo: Joel Fried/Getty Images)

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, the rock star known for his long blond hair was raised in Florida by a single mother after his father was shot to death. Allman idolized his older brother, Duane, eventually joining a series of bands with him. Together they formed the nucleus of The Allman Brothers Band.

The original band featured extended jams, tight guitar harmonies by Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, rhythms from a pair of drummers and the smoky blues inflected voice of Gregg Allman. Songs such as "Whipping Post,'' ''Ramblin' Man" and ''Midnight Rider," helped define what came to be known as Southern rock and opened the doors for such stars as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band.

In his 2012 memoir, "My Cross to Bear,'' Allman described how Duane was a central figure in his life in the years after their father was murdered by a man he met in a bar. The two boys endured a spell in a military school before being swept up in rock music in their teens. Although Gregg was the first to pick up a guitar, it was Duane who excelled at it. So Gregg later switched to the organ.

 

 They failed to crack success until they formed The Allman Brothers Band in 1969. Based in Macon, Georgia, the group featured Betts, drummers Jai Johanny "Jaimoe'' Johanson and Butch Trucks and bassist Berry Oakley. They partied to excess while defining a sound that still excites millions.

Their self-titled debut album came out in 1969, but it was their seminal live album "At Fillmore East'' in 1971 that catapulted the band to stardom.

Duane Allman had quickly ascended to the pantheon of guitar heroes, not just from his contributions to the Allman band, but from his session work with Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and with Eric Clapton on the classic "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' album. But he was killed in a motorcycle accident in October 1971, just months after recording the Fillmore shows. Another motorcycle accident the following year claimed Oakley's life.

In a 2012 interview with The Associated Press, Gregg Allman said Duane remained on his mind every day. Once in a while, he could even feel his presence.

"I can tell when he's there, man,'' Allman said. "I'm not going to get all cosmic on you. But listen, he's there.''

The 1970s brought more highly publicized turmoil: Allman was compelled to testify in a drug case against a former road manager for the band and his marriage to the actress and singer Cher was short-lived even by show business standards.

In 1975, Cher and Allman married three days after she divorced her husband and singing partner, Sonny Bono. Their marriage was tumultuous from the start; Cher requested a divorce just nine days after their Las Vegas wedding, although she dismissed the suit a month later.



 Singer Cher and musician Gregg Allman on January 21, 1977 shop on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Ron Galella//Getty Images)

Together they released a widely panned duets album under the name "Allman and Woman.'' They had one child together, Elijah Blue, and Cher filed for legal separation in 1977.

The Allman Brothers Band likewise split up in the 1980s and then re-formed several times over the years. A changing cast of players has included Derek Trucks, nephew of original drummer Butch Trucks, as well as guitarist Warren Haynes.

Starting in 1990, more than 20 years after its founding, the reunited band began releasing new music and found a new audience. In 1995 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and won a Grammy Award for best rock instrumental performance for "Jessica'' the following year.

In 2000, Betts was ousted from the band via fax for alleged substance abuse and poor performance and he hasn't played with the band since.

Butch Trucks died in January 2017. Authorities said he shot himself in front of his wife at their Florida home.



 Members of The Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman (L), Jaimoe (C) and Butch Trucks pose at a news conference on Nov. 22, 2010. (Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters)

In his memoir, Allman said he spent years overindulging in women, drugs and alcohol before getting sober in the mid-1990s. He said that after getting sober, he felt "brand new'' at the age of 50.

"I never believed in God until this,'' he said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1998. "I asked him to bring me out of this or let me die before all the innings have been played. Now I have started taking on some spiritualism.''

However, after all the years of unhealthy living he ended up with hepatitis C which severely damaged his liver. He underwent a liver transplant in 2010.



 Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band takes a final bow at their farewell show at The Beacon Theatre on Oct. 28, 2014 in New York City. (Photo: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic via Getty)

After the surgery, he turned music to help him recover and released his first solo album in 14 years "Low Country Blues'' in 2011.

 

 "I think it's because you're doing something you love,'' Allman said in a 2011 interview with The Associated Press. "I think it just creates a diversion from the pain itself. You've been swallowed up by something you love, you know, and you're just totally engulfed.''

The band was honoured with a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2012.</s>David Becker/WireImageGregg Allman, co-founding lead singer, keyboardist and one of the main songwriters of the legendary The Allman Brothers Band, has died at age 69.

A statement on Allman’s official website reads, in part, “It is with deep sadness that we announce that Gregg Allman, a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, passed away peacefully at his home in Savannah, Georgia.

“Gregg struggled with many health issues over the past several years. During that time, Gregg considered being on the road playing music with his brothers and solo band for his beloved fans, …read more</s>(AP Photo/Joe Howell, File). FILE - This Oct. 13, 2011 file photo shows Gregg Allman performs at the Americana Music Association awards show in Nashville, Tenn. On Saturday, May 27, 2017, a publicist said the musician, the singer for The Allman Brother...

(AP Photo/The Daily Nonpareil, Ben DeVries). FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 17, 2005 file photo, Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band performs at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, as part of their Antigone Rising Tour. On Saturday, Ma...

(Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, file). FILE - In this April 13, 2013 file photo, Gregg Allman performs at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 at Madison Square Garden in New York. On Saturday, May 27, 2017, a publicist said the musician...

(AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file). FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2011 file photo, singer Gregg Allman arrives at the 45th Annual CMA Awards in Nashville, Tenn. On Saturday, May 27, 2017, a publicist said the musician, the singer for The Allman Brothers Band, has...

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Music legend Gregg Allman, whose bluesy vocals and soulful touch on the Hammond B-3 organ helped propel the Allman Brothers Band to superstardom and spawn Southern rock, died Saturday, his manager said. He was 69.

Allman died peacefully and surrounded by loved ones at his home near Savannah, Georgia, his manager, Michael Lehman, told The Associated Press. He blamed cancer for Allman's death.

"It's a result of his reoccurrence of liver cancer that had come back five years ago," Lehman said in an interview. "He kept it very private because he wanted to continue to play music until he couldn't."

Allman played his last concert in October as health problems forced him to cancel other 2016 shows. He announced on Aug. 5 that he was "under his doctor's care at the Mayo Clinic" due to "serious health issues." Later that year, he canceled more dates, citing a throat injury. In March, he canceled performances for the rest of 2017.

Funeral arrangements had not been finalized Saturday. But Lehman said Allman would be buried alongside his late brother, founding Allman Brothers guitarist Duane Allman, at Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, where the band got its start nearly five decades ago.

"He'll be laid next to his brother, Duane," Lehman said. "That's in his wishes."

Southern rock and country musician Charlie Daniels said via Twitter, "Gregg Allman had a feeling for the blues very few ever have hard to believe that magnificent voice is stilled forever."

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, the rock star known for his long blond hair was raised in Florida by a single mother after his father was shot to death. Allman idolized his older brother, Duane, eventually joining a series of bands with him. Together they formed the nucleus of The Allman Brothers Band.

The original band featured extended jams, tight guitar harmonies by Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, rhythms from a pair of drummers and the smoky blues inflected voice of Gregg Allman. Songs such as "Whipping Post," ''Ramblin' Man" and "Midnight Rider" helped define what came to be known as Southern rock and opened the doors for such stars as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band.

In his 2012 memoir, "My Cross to Bear," Allman described how Duane was a central figure in his life in the years after their father was murdered by a man he met in a bar. The two boys endured a spell in a military school before being swept up in rock music in their teens. Although Gregg was the first to pick up a guitar, it was Duane who excelled at it. So Gregg later switched to the organ.

They failed to crack success until they formed The Allman Brothers Band in 1969. Based in Macon, Georgia, the group featured Betts, drummers Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson and Butch Trucks and bassist Berry Oakley. They partied to excess while defining a sound that still excites millions.

Their self-titled debut album came out in 1969, but it was their seminal live album "At Fillmore East" in 1971 that catapulted the band to stardom.

Duane Allman had quickly ascended to the pantheon of guitar heroes, not just from his contributions to the Allman band, but from his session work with Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and with Eric Clapton on the classic "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" album. But he was killed in a motorcycle accident in October 1971, just months after recording the Fillmore shows. Another motorcycle accident the following year claimed Oakley's life. .

In a 2012 interview with The Associated Press, Gregg Allman said Duane remained on his mind every day. Once in a while, he could even feel his presence.

"I can tell when he's there, man," Allman said. "I'm not going to get all cosmic on you. But listen, he's there."

The 1970s brought more highly publicized turmoil: Allman was compelled to testify in a drug case against a former road manager for the band and his marriage to the actress and singer Cher was short-lived even by show business standards.

In 1975, Cher and Allman married three days after she divorced her husband and singing partner, Sonny Bono. Their marriage was tumultuous from the start; Cher requested a divorce just nine days after their Las Vegas wedding, although she dismissed the suit a month later.

Together they released a widely panned duets album under the name "Allman and Woman." They had one child together, Elijah Blue, and Cher filed for legal separation in 1977.

Cher said via Twitter on Saturday, "IVE TRIED.WORDS ARE IMPOSSIBLE."

The Allman Brothers Band likewise split up in the 1980s and then re-formed several times over the years. A changing cast of players has included Derek Trucks, nephew of original drummer Butch Trucks, as well as guitarist Warren Haynes.

Starting in 1990, more than 20 years after its founding, the reunited band began releasing new music and found a new audience. In 1995 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and won a Grammy Award for best rock instrumental performance for "Jessica" the following year.

In 2000, Betts was ousted from the band via fax for alleged substance abuse and poor performance and he hasn't played with the band since.

Butch Trucks died in January 2017. Authorities said he shot himself in front of his wife at their Florida home.

Lehman said Allman had recently finished what would be his final album, titled Southern Blood and scheduled for release in September.

"He actually just listened to a few tracks of it last night and was really passionate and excited for that record to be complete," Lehman said.

In his memoir, Allman said he spent years overindulging in women, drugs and alcohol before getting sober in the mid-1990s. He said that after getting sober, he felt "brand new" at the age of 50.

"I never believed in God until this," he said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1998. "I asked him to bring me out of this or let me die before all the innings have been played. Now I have started taking on some spiritualism."

However, after all the years of unhealthy living he ended up with hepatitis C which severely damaged his liver. He underwent a liver transplant in 2010.

The statement on Allman's website says that as he faced health problems, "Gregg considered being on the road playing music with his brothers and solo band for his beloved fans essential medicine for his soul. Playing music lifted him up and kept him going during the toughest of times."

After the surgery, he turned music to help him recover and released his first solo album in 14 years "Low Country Blues" in 2011.

"I think it's because you're doing something you love," Allman said in a 2011 interview with The Associated Press. "I think it just creates a diversion from the pain itself. You've been swallowed up by something you love, you know, and you're just totally engulfed."

The band was honored with a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2012.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>David Becker/WireImage(SAVANNAH, Ga.) — Gregg Allman, co-founding lead singer, keyboardist and one of the main songwriters of the legendary The Allman Brothers Band, has died at age 69.

A statement on Allman’s official website reads, in part, “It is with deep sadness that we announce that Gregg Allman, a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, passed away peacefully at his home in Savannah, Georgia.

“Gregg struggled with many health issues over the past several years. During that time, Gregg considered being on the road playing music with his brothers and solo band for his beloved fans, essential medicine for his soul. Playing music lifted him up and kept him going during the toughest of times.”

The website statement concludes, “The family will release a statement soon, but for now ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”

Allman cancelled all his 2017 tour dates in March, at the time of his death he was working on a solo album, Southern Blood, recorded with his back up band at FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals and produced by Don Was.

Allman formed The Allman Brothers Band in 1969 in Jacksonville, Florida, with his older …read more
Gregg Allman, co-founder, vocalist and keyboard player of the Allman Brothers, dies in Savannah, Georgia.