Butch Trucks, Allman Brothers Band Founding Member, Dead at 69
Butch Trucks, a founding member of and drummer for the Allman Brothers Band, has died. He was 69 years old.
Relix reports Trucks' death, citing both a Facebook post from his cousin, Lee Trucks, and a post from the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival, at which Trucks was scheduled to perform; a press release, meanwhile, reports that Trucks died "tragically" in West Palm Beach, Fla., the evening of Jan. 24.
"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 press release states. "Butch will play on in our hearts forever.
No further information nor a cause of death has been revealed, but The Boot will update this story as more details become available.
Butch Trucks was born Claude Hudson Trucks in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 11, 1947. In 1969, he helped form the Allman Brothers Band with Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley and Jai Johanny Johanson. Trucks was one of the most consistent forces within the Allman Brothers Band until their breakup in 2014; in recent years, he performed as part of Les Brers -- a "superjam" group that included fellow former ABB members -- and with Butch Trucks & the Freight Train Band.
Trucks' musical family members include son Vaylor Trucks (the Yeti Trio); nephew Derek Trucks of the Tedeschi Trucks Band and nephew Duane Trucks, who performs with Widespread Panic and Hard Working Americans. He is survived by his wife, four children, four grandchildren, and his family asks that donations and remembrances be made in his name to Macon, Ga.'s Big House Museum.
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