Drummer Butch Trucks, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, has died
- Butch Trucks died Tuesday in West Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 69
- His booking agent confirmed his death, but said the cause was still unknown
- Trucks was one of the Allman Brothers Band's two drummers
- After the band broke up for a third time in 2014, Trucks started a new group
- He played his last gig on January 6, and the band had other shows scheduled for this spring
Butch Trucks, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, died Tuesday at his home in West Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 69.
The legendary drummer's booking agent confirmed his death to Rolling Stone, but said the cause was still unknown.
The West Palm Beach Police department issued a statement, saying they responded to Truck's home for a death investigation at 8:02pm and that foul play is not suspected.
Butch Trucks, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, died on Tuesday
Trucks was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1947, and started playing drums in the eighth grade. He was playing a gig in Daytona Beach while a student at Florida State University when he first met Gregg and Duane Allman, who invited him to join their band three years later.
He was one of the Allman Brother's Bands two drummers. Through the years, the band broke up and reunited three times and Trucks was there for every reunion.
During their most recent stretch, from 1999 to 2014, Trucks' own nephew Derek was brought into the band to play guitar.
After the band's most recent break-up two years ago, Trucks started a new group called Butch Trucks and the Freight Train Band. Trucks played his last show on January 6, and the group was scheduled for more shows this spring.
Trucks' booking agent confirmed his death to Rolling Stone, but said the cause was still unknown
He is survived by his wife Melinda, his four children (two from a previous relationship) and four grandchildren - and three of the five other founding members of the Allman Brothers Band.
Trucks had been very open about his demons, including the drug and alcohol problem he developed in his early years in the band.
Trucks told the Palm Beach Post that by 1974, the first thing he did in the morning was drink a beer or wine. He got into cocaine as a way to prolong the night.
When the band first broke up in 1974, he says he tried to quit both by moving his family to Tallahassee and going back to school to finish college.
Trucks and his wife Melinda are pictured attending the 2012 Grammy Awards
While he was able to kick hard alcohol and drugs, he kept drinking wine.
After his kids left the house, Trucks and his wife moved to Palm Beach where his alcohol demons came back to bite him.
'I promised myself no more than three glasses and I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t do it,' he said.
In October 2001, he quit alcohol completely, without going to rehab of Alcoholics Anonymous.
'You have to make the commitment deep down inside that this is enough. That you care more for the people around you than the booze. My message is "life can get better,"' he said
Just this year, Rolling Stone named Trucks and bandmate Jai Johanny 'Jaimoe' Johanson among the 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.
Having two drummers remains rare for bands, but Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dicky Betts said that the two brought different qualities to the sound.
'Jaimoe was a real good drummer, but more of a pocket guy … he wasn't really able to handle the power,' Betts said in the Allman Brothers biography. 'We needed Butch, who had that drive and strength, freight train, meat-and-potatoes thing. It set Jaimoe up perfectly.'
Following Trucks' death on Tuesday, friends and family members started posting memorials on Facebook.
'My cousin Butch Trucks died. Great drummer. Good person,' Trucks' cousin Lee posted at 8am on Wednesday.
Then came the tribute posts from his peers and fellow musicians.
'Just got work that original Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks has passed away. Condolences to family and band mates,' country musician Charlie Daniels, best known for 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia', tweeted Wednesday.
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