Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts suffers brain injury

ATLANTA -- It's been a rough couple of years for former Allman Brothers Band members.

Both bandleader Gregg Allman and drummer Butch Trucks died in 2017, and now, guitarist Dickey Betts is undergoing surgery following what has been called a "freak accident."

The Florida-based Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who wrote some of the band's biggest and best known songs, including "Ramblin' Man," was "playing with the family dog, slipped and cracked his head, causing bleeding from the brain," according to a statement posted on his Facebook page.

Betts is listed in "critical but stable condition," says the statement. He has been sedated and will undergo brain surgery on Friday to relieve swelling.

When the accident happened, the 74-year-old musician was recovering from a mild stroke that happened last month. He was doing well enough that a series of dates that had been canceled were rescheduled.

On Instagram, Dickey's longtime friend and manager David Spero asks everyone to keep Betts in their thoughts and prayers. "It was just a few days ago that Dickey told me how excited he was to get back in front of his fans in November," he writes.

Those November dates, including a Nov. 1 show at Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia, have all been canceled.

Story Filed By Cox Newspapers

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