Allmans Alums Gather For Dickey Betts Tribute Concert

Surviving members of the Allman Brothers Band plus musical friends and family members will assemble next month for In Memory of Dickey Betts, a tribute concert devoted to the group’s late guitarist. The event will be held Feb. 28 at Macon City Auditorium in Macon, Ga., in honor of Betts, who died in April 2024 at the age of 80 after suffering from cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Hosted and curated by Betts’ son Duane, the event will feature Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Oteil Burbridge, Jaimoe, Chuck Leavell, Devon Allman, Charlie Starr, Jimmy Hall, Lamar Williams Jr, and more to be announced.

“For so many of us, Dad’s gift to the world was music,” says Duane. “I’m so happy to come together with some very special friends to honor the depth and beauty of his life and, of course, to share that sweet, melodic sound he is so well known for.”

A portion of the proceeds will benefit as-yet-unspecified music education causes. Tickets go on sale Jan. 13.

Starting in 1969, the mustachioed Betts flanked brothers Gregg and Duane Allman in the Allman Brothers Band, who overcame Duane’s death in a 1971 motorcycle accident to become one of the most legendary Southern rock acts of all time. Betts wrote and sing the Allmans’ biggest hit, 1973’s “Ramblin’ Man,” as well as favorites such as “Blue Sky,” “Jessica” and the beloved instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.”

After a long hiatus in the 1980s, the Allmans reunited and enjoyed a new round of success amid the rise of American jam band culture. In this era, Betts served as the group’s de facto co-leader alongside Gregg, whose struggles with substance abuse endured into the ’90s. Betts himself was no stranger to run-ins with the law, and his volatility led to him leaving the band for good in 2000.

While the Allmans continued without him for another 14 years, Betts played throughout the 2000s with his own Dickey Betts Band, which featured Duane on guitar.

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