Allman Brothers Band co-founder Butch Trucks has died at age 69, the group announced on its website Wednesday, January 25. The drummer passed away in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday evening, January 24, though his agent told Rolling Stone that his cause of death remains unknown at this time.
"The Trucks and Allman Brothers Band families request all of Butch's friends and fans to please respect our privacy at this time of sadness for our loss," the band said in a statement on its website. "Butch will play on in our hearts forever."
Trucks formed the rock group with Duane and Gregg Allman, Berry Oakley, Dickey Betts and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson in 1969 in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. “We were out spreading the gospel of this music we had discovered,” Trucks told Rolling Stone last year. “We never thought that we would be more than an opening act.”
They went on to release 11 studio albums, with their biggest hit, "Ramblin' Man," off 1973's Brothers and Sisters, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100. Trucks continued to record with the Allman Brothers through 2014, with nephew Derek joining on guitar for the final 15 years of the group’s tenure. In 2015, Trucks and Johanson started Les Brers (originally called Butch Trucks & Very Special Friends), inspired by their 1972 track “Les Brers in A Minor.” Trucks played what would be his last gig January 6 in Rocky Mount, Virginia, with a group called Butch Trucks and the Freight Train Band.
Trucks is survived by his wife, Melinda; their four children, including son Vaylor, the guitarist in the Atlanta-based improv fusion band the Yeti Trio; and four grandchildren.
