Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts dies at age 80

Allman Brothers Brand original guitarist Dickey Betts died Thursday at the age of 80.

"He was surrounded by his whole family and he passed peacefully. They didn’t think he was in any pain," his longtime manager, David Spero, told the Associated Press. Betts had struggled with cancer for more than a year.

Betts was best known as an original member of the Allman Brothers Band and was with the group for its original run 1969-1976, though he returned to the group intermittently in subsequent years.

Among his most substantive compositional contributions to the group were the hits "Ramblin' Man" and the instrumental "Jessica," which became the theme song to the British TV show Top Gear. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 with the band.

The Allman Brothers were a leading band in the Southern Rock movement, which also featured acts such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Charlie Daniels, and the Marshall Tucker Band.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.