Gregg Allman

Gregory LeNoir Allman is an American musician, singer and songwriter associated with Southern rock, blues rock, blues, rock, country and gospel. He is born in Nashville, United States, in 1947 and dies in 2017. He is best known for his work with the Allman Brothers Band, and his voice becomes one of the defining elements of the group’s sound.

Early life and first bands

Allman spends much of his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee, before moving to Daytona Beach, Florida. He develops an interest in music with his brother Duane Allman during their teenage years. The pair begins performing in the Allman Joys in the mid-1960s. In 1967 they move to Los Angeles, where the group is renamed the Hour Glass and records two albums for Liberty Records.

The Allman Brothers Band

In 1969, Gregg and Duane form the Allman Brothers Band, which later settles in Macon, Georgia. The band begins to reach mainstream success in the early 1970s, and the live album At Fillmore East becomes a commercial and artistic breakthrough. Duane Allman dies in a motorcycle crash in 1971, and bassist Berry Oakley also dies in a motorcycle accident the following year. The 1973 album Brothers and Sisters becomes the group’s biggest hit.

Solo work and later career

After Brothers and Sisters, Allman pursues a solo career and releases his debut album Laid Back in 1973. He continues as a solo artist and with the Gregg Allman Band after the Allman Brothers Band breaks up in 1975. He is married to Cher for the rest of the decade. Following a brief reunion and a period of little activity, he reaches a new commercial peak with the single “I’m No Angel” in 1987. He releases two more solo albums before the Allman Brothers Band reform for a third and final time in 1989 and continue performing until 2014.

Releases, honours and writing

Allman’s later solo albums include Low Country Blues in 2011. He writes an autobiography, My Cross to Bear, which appears in 2012. He receives several Grammy Awards and is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. He is also named among Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Associated acts

His associated acts include the Allman Brothers Band, Allman & Woman, The 31st of February, Hour Glass, The Allman Joys, the Gregg Allman Band and the Allman Brothers.