Johnny Neel, Songwriter & Allman Brothers Band Keys Player, Dies at 70

Johnny Neel, songwriter and former member of the Allman Brothers Band and the Dickey Betts Band, has died. He was 70 years old.

His former bandmate Warren Haynes confirmed the news of Neel’s death in a heartfelt social media post. No cause of death has been given. “Aside from being an amazing musician and singer, Johnny was one of the funniest people on the planet — a true character. ‘Johnny Neel stories,’ as we refer to them in our little chunk of the music world, are legendary,” he wrote. “There was always music in his head. It was his savior. Whenever we were writing together, he was an endless fountain of ideas, and the same on stage or in the studio. His uncanny ability to draw from so many musical styles and genres was amazing and his gift for improvisation was unmatched. We wrote a lot of music together, we played a lot of music together, and we traveled the world together, and maybe most importantly, we had a lot of fun times and created a lot of beautiful memories. Hence the stories. Johnny’s music and his legend will live on forever. Miss you Neely.”

Neel was born on June 11, 1954, in Wilmington, Delaware. He joined the Allman Brothers Band on keyboards and harmonica in 1989 and worked with the group on the 1990 album, Seven Turns, on which he co-write four songs including the hit single “Good Clean Fun.” He also co-wrote “Maydell” from the group’s final album, 2003’s Hittin’ the Note.

In 2019, Neel suffered a stroke but recovered and soon returned to performing.