Chris Ethridge Dead: Flying Burrito Brothers Founder Succumbs to Cancer at 65

MERIDIAN, Miss. (AP) - John Christopher "Chris" Ethridge II, a Mississippi-born musician and songwriter who was a founding member of the country-rock band "The Flying Burrito Brothers," has died in Meridian. He was 65.

Officials with Robert Barham Family Funeral Home said Tuesday that Ethridge died Monday at Anderson Regional Medical Center in Meridian. The family said in a statement that Ethridge had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September.

Ethridge toured with Willie Nelson in the late 70s. With Joel Scott Hill and Johny Barbata, Ethridge recorded in the L.A. Getaway, which many rock critics hail as one of the great, lost 1970s rock albums.

Services are Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at Robert Barham Family Funeral Home Chapel in Meridian.

Survivors include his wife, Karen Sue; a daughter and two sons.

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