Devon Allman Opens Up About The Passing Of This Father
The late Gregg Allman will be laid to rest on Saturday (June 3), in his hometown of Macon, Ga., in a private ceremony expected to be attended by family and friends, both social and musical.
It will certainly be an emotional day for Allman’s five children, but second-oldest Devon Allman, the most musically active of the siblings, tells us that there was peace with his father’s passing:
“God he`s strong, man. He bounced back from so many different situations. Yeah, it’s just one of those things. The man had 20 lives and you’re just thinking, ‘Oh well maybe he can pull through this one too and it’s just not the case.’ I made some trips down in the last six months. I made sure to spend some time and put in some good quality time. I’ve been touring a lot myself but all the kids went and spent some time with him before Christmas and had a really, really wonderful hang with him and then I was in the area on tour with March and went and spent time with him.”
Allman adds that his father, who died on May 27 from liver cancer at the age of 69, understood the end was near:
“Y’know he, the times that I visited him before it was always kind of the pink elephant in the room. We never really talked about it. And the last time I hung out with him it was the first thing he brought up and that was unsettling. That was hard but it is what it is and he said he was really proud of us kids, and that was just a hard day. I had to say goodbye to him… He was a big hero of mine…I told him at one point how proud I was of him of conquering his demons and really getting real and trying to cultivate relationships with his children and that he really finished strong.”
Allman says he hopes to hold an all-star tribute concert for his father on his birthday, which is December 8.
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.
