Recap of Gregg Allman’s Funeral
A week after his death from liver cancer, Gregg Allman was laid to rest following a private funeral in Macon, Ga.
The ceremony at the Snow’s Memorial Chapel included eulogies by three of Allman’s children (Devon, Layla and Delilah Island), Allman’s manager Michael Lehmen and longtime friend Chank Middleton. Among those attending were surviving original Allman Brothers Band members Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson and Dickey Betts, one-time Allmans guitarist Derek Trucks, Allman’s ex-wife Cher, Peter Frampton and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who was supported by the Allmans during his 1976 run for office and last year gave Allman an honorary doctorate of humanities degree at Mercer University in Macon.
Mourners were asked to wear jeans to the funeral rather than suits, while fans lined the route from the chapel to the cemetery and then gathered on a hill overlooking the grave while the burial was taking place.
Frampton, a friend who also toured with Allman recently, tells us that he had an indication earlier this year that Allman had taken a turn for the worse:
“We emailed over the last couple years ’cause I knew his health was up and down, and we’d speak on email. And then the final email I didn’t really get a response and I thought that, obviously thinking the worst. And then we just heard (about his passing) recently, so…I thought he was on the mend, but obviously they kept it quiet there.”
Allman died on May 27 at the age of 69 at this home near Savannah, Ga.
Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist who not only covers music but has written books on Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.
