Celebrity

Dickey Betts, Co-Founder Of The Allman Brothers Band, Dead At 80

Published

6 months ago

2024-04-19

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Dickey Betts, a guitarist and co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band, has died, according to a family statement released to CNN on Thursday by his longtime manager.

Betts was eighty.

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Dickey Betts, Co-Founder Of The Allman Brothers Band, Dead At 80

“It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that the Betts family announces the peaceful passing of Forrest Richard ‘Dickey’ Betts,” according to the statement. “The well-known performer, songwriter, bandleader, and family patriarch passed away this morning at his home in Osprey, Florida, with his family by his side. Dickey was larger than life, and his absence will be felt around the world. During this terrible time, the family requests prayers and respect for their privacy in the coming days. More information will be provided at the proper time.”

Betts’ manager, David Spero, told Rolling Stone that the guitarist had cancer and chronic obstructive lung disease.

Betts, who was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, grew up listening to bluegrass, country music, and, subsequently, rock & roll. Betts, bass guitarist Berry Oakley, drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimoe, and brothers Gregg and Duane Allman formed the Allman Brothers Band in 1969, and are credited with helping create the sound and genre of Southern rock in the 1960s and 1970s.

Betts composed and sung the band’s biggest song, “Ramblin’ Man.” Initially, he created the song with the intention of having another artist sing it.

“I was going to send ‘Ramblin’ Man’ to Johnny Cash,” Betts stated in 2020, later adding that he “thought it was a great song for him.”

“But everyone liked the song. Even my father enjoyed the song before we recorded it or anything. And I’m thinking I’ll email this to Johnny Cash and see if he wants to perform it,” he added. “The producer (Johnny Sandlin) mentioned that we needed another song for the record and asked if I had any. I explained, ‘Well, I got one, but I was going to send it to Nashville for Cash to record.’ He said, ‘Let’s hear it. And then, ‘No! We gotta do it.'”

Betts also wrote the popular Allman Brothers songs “Blue Sky” and “Jessica.”

Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident in 1971, and Oakley died in a motorcycle crash the following year. Betts and Gregg Allman became the band’s leaders, but creative disputes and substance misuse prompted the group to split up and reform several times.

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Dickey Betts, Co-Founder Of The Allman Brothers Band, Dead At 80

Cameron Crowe, then 16, followed the Allman Brothers Band on tour in 1973 for a Rolling Stone cover story that would later serve as the basis for Crowe’s Oscar-winning 2000 film “Almost Famous.” In 2017, Crowe described Billy Crudup’s key rock star character as “a tribute” to Betts.

In an email to CNN later that day, Crowe referred to Betts as “a guitarist for the ages, the musical glue that held together The Allman Brothers Band for many years.”

“Dickey’s quiet warmth, and his timeless contribution to American music was a big inspiration for our film,” said the writer-director.

Betts quit the Allman Brothers Band in a widely publicized separation in 2000. While the band continued to tour for nearly 15 years and issued one more studio album, Betts performed with his Great Southern ensemble, which included his son Duane, and released another studio album of new songs. Betts retired in 2014.

Also on Friday, the Allman Brothers Band issued an official statement, stating that Betts’ “extraordinary guitar playing alongside guitarist Duane Allman created a unique dual guitar signature sound that became the signature sound of the genre known as Southern Rock.”

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Dickey Betts, Co-Founder Of The Allman Brothers Band, Dead At 80

“He was passionate in life, be it music, songwriting, fishing, hunting, boating, golf, karate or boxing,” the statement went on to say. “Dickey was all in on and excelled at anything that caught his attention.”

When asked what he enjoyed most about music, Betts told the Sarasota Herald Tribune in 2020 that it was the impact it had on his listeners.

“I like the crowds mainly, and what the music did for them,” he went on to say. “They enjoyed the music more than I did. I just love how the crowd can drift off into another universe during a concert.”

SOURCE – (CNN)

Celebrity

Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

Published

2 weeks ago

2024-10-07

Kiara Grace

Al Pacino revealed that he nearly died from COVID-19 in 2020 and expressed his thoughts on what happens after death.

In interviews with The New York Times and People magazine, the Academy Award-winning actor discussed getting the virus and temporarily losing his pulse.

Al, 84, told the Times in a wide-ranging interview that he started feeling “unusually not good” and soon got a fever and dehydration. “I was sitting there in my house, and I was gone,” he stated. “I didn’t have a pulse.”

Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

“You’re here, and you’re not. I thought, “Wow, you don’t even have any memories.” You have nothing. “Strange porridge,” the “Scarface” actor claimed about his near-death encounter.

Within minutes, an ambulance arrived at Al’s house, and he regained consciousness with six paramedics and two physicians in his living room, he claimed.

“They had these outfits on that looked like they were from outer space or something,” he told the local newspaper. “It was very frightening to open your eyes and witness that. Everyone was surrounding me, and they said, ‘He’s back. “He’s here.”

Al told People that when he regained consciousness, he felt confused. “I looked around and I thought, ‘What happened to me?'”

Despite “everybody” believing he was dead, the movie veteran claimed he is not sure if he perished. “I thought I had died. I might not have. I honestly don’t think I have. “I know I made it,” he stated.

Al hailed his “great assistant” by swiftly alerting paramedics after his nurse confirmed that he no longer had a pulse.

“He got the people coming, because the nurse that was taking care of me said, ‘I don’t feel a pulse on this guy,'” remembered Al Pacino.

When asked if the health concern had impacted the way he lived his life, Pacino replied, “Not at all.”

However, this does not imply that the experience had no impact on the performer.

Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

Pacino, who is presently prepping for a film rendition of Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” told The New York Times that the event had a philosophical significance.

“I did not see the white light or anything. “There is nothing there,” he explained. “As Hamlet says, ‘To be or not to be,’ and ‘The uncharted place from which no traveler returns.’ He then says two words: ‘no more.’ “It was no more,” Pacino concluded.

“You are gone. I’d never considered it in my life. But, you know, actors: It sounds good to say you died once. What happens when there is no more?

Pacino’s experiences are described in his book, “Sonny Boy,” which will be published on Tuesday.

SOURCE | AP

Celebrity

Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal From Singer R. Kelly, Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes

Published

2 weeks ago

2024-10-07

Kiara Grace

Washington — The Supreme Court declined to hear R. Kelly’s appeal on Monday, despite the fact that he is currently serving 20 years in jail for child rape charges in Chicago.

The Grammy Award-winning R&B artist, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted in 2022 of three counts of making child sexual abuse photos and three counts of enticing children for sex.

Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal From Singer R. Kelly, Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes

His lawyers contended that a lower statute of limitations on child sex crime prosecutions should have applied to actions committed in the 1990s. Current legislation allows charges to be filed when the accuser is still alive.

kelly

As is common, the justices did not explain why they declined to consider the case. There were no public dissents. Lower courts have previously rejected his arguments.

Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal From Singer R. Kelly, Convicted Of Child Sex Crimes

According to federal prosecutors, the video shows Robert sexually abusing a girl. The accuser, Jane, testified that she was 14 when the video was taken.

Robert has also appealed a 30-year sentence for federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges in New York.

SOURCE | AP

Celebrity

Keanu Reeves Spins Out At Indianapolis Motor Speedway In Pro Auto Racing Debut

Published

2 weeks ago

2024-10-06

Kiara Grace

Indianapolis — Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves made his professional car racing debut on Saturday, spinning out at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Keanu Reeves Spins Out At Indianapolis Motor Speedway In Pro Auto Racing Debut

Keanu swerved into the grass without colliding on the exit of Turn 9, slightly more than halfway through the 45-minute race. He re-entered and started driving, indicating that he was uninjured.

Keanu, who qualified 31st out of 35 cars, raced as high as 21st and escaped a first-lap accident in Turn 14. Reeves placed 25th.

Keanu, 60, is racing in Indianapolis in the Toyota GR Cup, a Toyota spec-racing series and a support series for this weekend’s Indy 8 Hour sports car race. He has a second race on Sunday.

Keanu is driving the No. 92 BRZRKR automobile to promote his graphic novel, “The Book of Elsewhere.” He is teammates with Cody Jones from “Dude Perfect.”