Jeremy Clarkson has led tributes after BBC Top Gear legend Dickey Betts, who died on Thursday aged 80.
The musician was the singer and songwriter behind the track Jessica – which was used as the Top Gear theme tune for the hit BBC series.
Dickey co-founded the Allman Brothers, who were known for their hit single Ramblin’ Man, as well as Jessica, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
The guitarist passed away earlier this week after living with cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for more than a year.
And Jeremy took to Twitter himself to pay tribute to the singer as he wrote: ‘Dicky Betts has died. You probably haven’t heard of him. But he wrote a song called Jessica. And you will DEFINITELY have heard that.’
Jeremy Clarkson has led the emotional tributes after BBC Top Gear legend Dickey Betts died on Thursday aged 80
Dickey co-founded the Allman Brothers, who were known for their hit single Ramblin’ Man, as well as Jessica and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995
The riff from the song was used over the opening credits of Top Gear from when it was first on screens in 1977, and then again from the launch of the reboot in 2002.
However the hit was originally written for Dickey’s daughter But the recognisable tune was actually written for Betts’ daughter, who the song is named after.
After Jeremy jogged his followers memories, tributes began to pour in as they also shared their condolences.
They wrote: ‘Rip Dicky Betts, you really was a great one’; ‘Iconic tune’; ‘I’ve googled Jessica and as you said we all DEFINITELY have heard it. It is TopGear intro music.’
‘An iconic theme. Up there with the “The Chain”, for F1.’; ‘RIP Dicky (to be honest, no I haven’t heard of him)’; ‘Well you were certainly not wrong, It turns out I had heard of that. I wonder how he felt about his song becoming such an iconic part of Top Gear?’
‘Founding member of Allman Brothers Band, all sadly gone now. Iconic tune. RIP Dicky’.
Meanwhile the surviving past members of The Allman Brothers Band also paid tribute to Dickey.
While all but one of the original members of the band have now passed away, with the exception of Jai Johanny ‘Jaimoe’ Johanson, the subsequent members that joined the group over the years shared a heartfelt statement to People.
The musician was the singer and songwriter behind the track Jessica – which was used as the Top Gear theme tune for the hit BBC series
Jeremy took to Twitter himself to pay tribute to the singer as he wrote: ‘Dicky Betts has died. You probably haven’t heard of him. But he wrote a song called Jessica. And you will DEFINITELY have heard that’
After Jeremy jogged his followers memories, tributes began to pour in as they also shared their condolences
‘With deep sadness the Allman Brothers Band learned today that founding member Dickey Betts has passed away peacefully in his home in Sarasota, Florida, following a period of declining health,’ the Grammy winners shared in a press release to the publication.
They proceeded to highlight the impact Betts had on the band during his tenure from 1969 to 2000 with his songwriting and guitar playing.
‘Dickey wrote quintessential Brothers songs including Blue Sky, Rambling Man, Jessica, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed and many others,’ the statement continued.
‘His extraordinary guitar playing alongside guitarist Duane Allman created a unique dual guitar signature sound that became the signature sound of the genre known as Southern Rock.’
‘He was passionate in life, be it music, songwriting, fishing, hunting, boating, golf, karate or boxing. Dickey was all in on and excelled at anything that caught his attention,’ the surviving past members shared of the West Palm Beach, Florida native.
It’s at this point in their tribute that they gave recognition to the founding members of The Allman Brothers Band, which formed in Jacksonville, Florida back in 1969, but ultimately they would be based in Macon, Georgia.
The surviving former members of The Allman Brothers Band shared a heartfelt statement about former band founder Dickey Betts, one day after his death at the age of 80
Dickey, who wrote many of the band’s more recognizable songs like Ramblin’ Man, was with the band from its formation in 1969, through two breakup until he left the band in 2000; he is seen jamming out in the mid-1970s
‘Betts joins his brothers, Duane Allman, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks and Gregg Allman, as well as ABB crew, members Twiggs Lyndon, Joe Dan Petty, Red Dog, Kim Payne and Mike Callahan in that old Winnebago in the sky touring the world taking their music to all who will listen,’ they added.
Surviving members include Chuck Leavell (keyboards), David Goldflies (bass), Warren Haynes (guitar), Johnny Neel (vocals), Marc Quiñones (percussion), Oteil Burbridge (bass), Derek Trucks (guitar) and Jimmy Herring (guitar).
The ABB statement, which was attributed to ‘Allman Brothers Band, Family and Crew’, concluded: ‘Our condolences to his immediate family Donna, Duane & Lisa, Christy & Frank, Jessica and Kim. Play on Brother Dickey, you will be forever remembered and deeply missed.’
As a founding member, Dickey played with the band from its inception in 1969 to his exit in 2000, although there were a couple of breakups and reunions in the 1970s and 80s.
