Dickey Betts, co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band and famed guitarist, died at the age of 80.

Dickey Betts, who died on Thursday at the age of 80, was born a ramblin’ man.

He left home at 16 to join the circus and eventually became a well-known guitarist who toured the world with the Allman Brothers Band. He wrote the group’s biggest song, “Ramblin’ Man,” and continued to tour until he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Betts died at his home in Osprey, Florida, and his 20-year manager, David Spero, confirmed over the phone. He had been battling cancer for almost a year and suffered from chronic obstructive lung disease, according to Spero.

“He died away gently, surrounded by his entire family. He said that they didn’t believe he was in any discomfort.

In the original Allman Brothers Band, Betts and Duane Allman split lead guitar responsibilities, which contributed to the band’s distinctive sound and the emergence of Southern rock as a new genre. The group created a unique sound by fusing blues, country, R&B, and jazz with ’60s rock. This style was influential to many well-known performers, including Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Phish, Jason Isbell, and Chris Stapleton.

“My first concert was Dickey Betts at Coleman’s in Rome, New York in 1983,” blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa wrote on Instagram Thursday, citing Betts as the inspiration for his favorite electric guitar model. “Blew my mind and made me want a Les Paul.”

Other tributes were delivered by members of the Allman Brothers Band’s extended family.

Guitarist Derek Trucks and his wife and bandmate, Susan Tedeschi, wrote on their Instagram page that Betts was “one of the best to ever do it.”

Trucks joined The Allman Brothers Band in 1999. His uncle, Butch Trucks, was one of the band’s two founding drummers.

Berry, the bassist, Duane Oakley, son of Allman Brothers founding bassist Berry Oakley, paid tribute to his “Uncle Dickey” on Facebook, writing, “If it weren’t for him, I don’t think I’d be a traveling musician. The cat in the hat will never be forgotten, and he will be cherished not only for the beautiful life he led, but also for the wonderful music he left behind for all of us to share and remember.”

Founded in 1969, the Allman Brothers were a pioneering jam band who defied the usual formula of three-minute pop songs by performing longer pieces in live and on record. The band was also unique for being interracial and from the Deep South.

Duane Allman died in a motorbike accident in 1971, and Berry Oakley died in a motorcycle crash the following year. That left Betts and Allman’s younger brother, Gregg, as the band’s leaders, but they regularly disagreed, and substance usage exacerbated the turmoil. Before regrouping, the band went through at least two breakups and had over a dozen lineup changes.

The Allman Brothers Band was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2012. Betts quit the group permanently in 2000. He also performed solo and with his own band, Great Southern, which featured his son, guitarist Duane Betts.

Born on December 12, 1943, Forrest Richard Betts grew up in the Bradenton, Florida, vicinity of the highway 41 he wrote about in the song “Ramblin’ Man.” The family had resided in the region since the middle of the 1800s.

Betts, a Canadian fiddler’s descendent, was exposed to string ensembles even before he entered school. He played the banjo and ukulele before concentrating on the electric guitar since it attracted girls. He also developed a passion for Western swing, bluegrass, and country music. However, he typically used an acoustic guitar for songwriting.

Betts transferred schools frequently because his father worked in construction, and these experiences subsequently inspired him to compose “Ramblin’ Man.” His first significant road trip occurred when he joined the circus to play in a band.

He returned home and, along with Oakley, formed Second Coming, a band headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. Betts and Oakley jammed one night in 1969 with Duane Allman, a prominent session guitarist, and his younger brother. They founded the Allman Brothers Band.

Betts “excelled at anything that caught his attention,” according to a statement released Thursday on the Allman Brothers Band’s official website. “He was passionate in life, be it music, fishing, golf, hunting, songwriting, boating, karate or boxing.”

The band relocated to Macon, Georgia, and released their self-titled debut album in 1969. A year later, Betts released the CD “Idlewild South,” which featured his musical work “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” which quickly became a performance favorite.

The 1971 double album “At Fillmore East,” generally regarded as one of the best live recordings of the classic rock era, was the Allman Brothers’ commercial breakthrough and solidified their playing reputation by highlighting Allman and Betts’ unique guitar interplay. Their styles differed, with Allman playing bluesy slide guitar and Betts’ solos and singing steering the band toward country. When stacked in harmony, their playing was very distinctive.

The band also featured two drummers: Butch Trucks and John Lee “Jaimoe” Johanson, a Black musician from Mississippi who helped integrate Southern rock.

Duane Allman died four days after “Fillmore” was declared gold, but the band continued to perform and the audience grew. The 1973 album “Brothers and Sisters” reached No. 1 on the charts and contained “Ramblin’ Man,” with Betts singing lead and introducing twang to the Top 40. The song’s start resembled a fiddle tune, but the conclusion was inspired by Derek and the Dominos’ “Layla,” a previous smash featuring Duane Allman.

“Ramblin’ Man” peaked at No. 2 on the singles charts, but “Half Breed” by Cher, who subsequently married Gregg Allman, knocked it off No. 1. Betts’ composition became a classic-rock standard, and his soaring guitar echoed in neighborhood bars across the country for decades.

Although “Ramblin’ Man” was the Allmans’ lone Top Ten hit, Betts’ appealing 7 ½-minute instrumental song “Jessica,” released in 1972, showcased his aptitude for melodic hooks and became an FM radio fixture. Betts was meticulous in his approach to songwriting, spending two months crafting “Jessica,” which was inspired by the style of jazz guitar legend Django Reinhardt.

Betts also authored or co-wrote some of the Allmans’ other most popular tunes, such as “Blue Sky” and “Southbound.”

After lying dormant for the most of the 1980s, Betts and Warren Haynes’ guitar trio reunited in 1990 to initiate the Allman Brothers Band’s resurgence.

Over the following ten years, Betts continued to tour and release three more studio albums, but in 2000, he and the Allman Brothers had a contentious breakup. The guitarist’s comrades put him on leave from their summer tour and blamed “creative differences” in a statement.

Betts claimed that Gregg Allman and the other members conveyed the news via fax, hinting that he needed substance abuse therapy. Betts filed a lawsuit and settled with the band through arbitration. The separation was permanent. Gregg Allman and Butch Trucks died in 2017.

After leaving the Allman Brothers, Betts continued to play with his own band and lived in the Bradenton area with his wife, Donna.

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