Southern rock music star Gregg Allman dead at 69

Thomson Reuters

(Reuters) - Gregg Allman, whose soulful vocals made the Allman Brothers Band one of rock's top acts in the 1970s in a career that also was marred by tragedy and drug abuse, died on Saturday at the age of 69, his official website said.

"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," it said.

Drummer Butch Trucks, another founding member of the band, died aged 60 on Jan. 24.

The Allman Brothers Band was started in Macon, Georgia, in the late 1960s by Gregg and older brother Duane, who became the band's guiding force and one of rock's most revered guitarists before he was killed in a motorcycle accident at age 24. In its heyday, the band was a staple on radio stations and released albums ranked among the best in rock history.

Gregg was the band's lead singer, keyboardist and a key songwriter as it put out a string of hits. He wrote several of them - "Whipping Post," "It's Not My Cross to Bear," "Midnight Rider," "Ain't Wastin' Time No More" and "Melissa" - while others were renditions of old blues songs, including "One Way Out" and "Statesboro Blues."

(Reporting by Bill Trott; Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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