• December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017
• Gregg Allman was the soul-soaked voice and Hammond organ behind the Allman Brothers Band, the group that did more than any other to define Southern rock. Co-founded with his brother Duane, the band fused blues, jazz-style improvisation, and country into long, searching live performances that birthed classics like "Whipping Post" and "Statesboro Blues." His solo work, stretching from his 1973 release Laid Back to his posthumous 2017 album Southern Blood, captured an artist constantly searching for songs that mirrored his own life.
• Duane Allman initiated what became the Allman Brothers Band in March 1969. "My brother called me up in LA and told me to get my ass back to Jacksonville," Gregg explained to Uncut magazine in 2011. "He said, 'I'm tired of being in the studio. I got this black guy, Jaimoe, and Butch Trucks to play drums. I got a hell of a bass player, and with him I got a lead guitar player. I'm gonna send you a plane ticket.' He didn't want me to hitch because that's how our dad was killed. But I got a ride all the way."
  
  When Gregg arrived, the band led him straight into their rehearsal space and handed him a brand-new Hammond B3 organ. "They said, 'We'll see you in about a week. You learn all you can.'"
• Duane died on October 29, 1971, at age 24, after swerving his motorcycle to avoid a truck in Macon, Georgia. Gregg struggled with deep anger over losing his brother so suddenly, spending weeks bedridden with grief.
• Although Gregg fronted the group for decades, he never considered himself the leader. To him, the Allman Brothers were always Duane's band. In his 2012 memoir My Cross to Bear, he wrote about how Duane established the blueprint for how he lived the rest of his life.
• The Allman Brothers Band entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, with Willie Nelson presenting the award. Gregg had been drinking heavily for five days leading up to the ceremony and stumbled through a brief acceptance speech, forgetting almost everything he planned to say. Watching the footage back a few days later left him horrified.
  
  "I was tired of waking up in the morning and having to drink about half a pint of vodka just to get me out of bed," he told Uncut. Gregg checked into rehab the next day.
• Gregg and Cher married in June 1975, just days after her divorce from Sonny Bono was finalized. Cher described the wedding day as unromantic, filing for divorce nine days later. The pair reconciled, and their son Elijah Blue was born in July 1976.
  
  In her 2024 memoir Cher: Part One, she recounted the friction surrounding Gregg's discomfort with being branded "Mr. Cher," alongside a paranoid breakdown that convinced her to end the marriage for good.
• Gregg's biggest solo hit. "I'm No Angel" was written by Tony Colton and Phil Palmer, a British session guitarist who played with Dire Straits and Eric Clapton. They sent Allman a demo, and the lyrics hit home. It peaked at #49 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1987, and topped the Mainstream Rock chart for two weeks, giving him a mid-'80s radio comeback.
• The 2011 album Low Country Blues gave Allman his highest US chart placement when it debuted at #5, but it missed the mark for him creatively. Producer T-Bone Burnett assembled a backing group of top studio musicians, which left Allman eager to record an album with his actual touring band instead.
  
  That setup led directly to Southern Blood. Recorded almost entirely in March 2016 at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the Don Was-produced project remained a secret among a tight inner circle. The album features mostly covers, including a rendition of Jackson Browne's "These Days," alongside a song written as a farewell to Duane. Manager Michael Lehman noted that Allman's terminal liver cancer diagnosis gave him total clarity to finish the record on his own terms.
• Allman died in his sleep at his Richmond Hill home on May 27, 2017, from complications of liver cancer at age 69.

Comments

More Songfacts:

Knock On WoodEddie Floyd

The song "Knock On Wood" was confusing to UK listeners because the saying there is "Touch Wood."

Good TimesChic

The disco song "Good Tmes" by Chic was a huge influence on early rap, providing the bassline for "Rapper's Delight."

Our HouseCrosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Graham Nash wrote the domestic tranquility classic "Our House" about the house he shared with Joni Mitchell. It was a very very very fine house.

Freedom Of ChoiceDevo

The Devo song "Freedom Of Choice" is about mindless consumerism - how people like to make frivolous choices, but otherwise want to be told what to do.

DarlinAvril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne's 2011 song "Darlin" was written much earlier; she says it's the second song she ever wrote, composed when she was an unsigned 15-year-old living in Napanee, Ontario. The song reflects those years when she was "trying to figure it all out."

Watching The WheelsJohn Lennon

In the late '70s, John Lennon slowed his roll, becoming a househusband who baked bread and took care of his young son Sean. This inspired his song "Watching The Wheels," where he discovers the benefits of taking it easy.

Editor's Picks

Butch VigSongwriter Interviews

The Garbage drummer/songwriter produced the Nirvana album Nevermind, and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream.

Classic MetalFact or Fiction

Ozzy, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest and even Michael Bolton show up in this Classic Metal quiz.

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Desmond ChildSongwriter Interviews

One of the most successful songwriters in the business, Desmond co-wrote "Livin' La Vida Loca," "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" and "Livin' On A Prayer."

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.