Gregg Allman cancels tour due to respiratory illness (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Gregg Allman, the southern rock legend and frontman for The Allman Brothers Band, has canceled a series of summer concerts due to a lingering upper respiratory condition, his representative said on Monday.

On doctor's orders, the 63-year-old veteran bluesman and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was forced to cancel tour dates from August 26 - September 15. Some of the dates will be rescheduled for later in the year.

Allman, who battles Hepatitis C and has struggled with drug and alcohol addictions during his life, is recovering from a liver transplant last year. In June, he had to cancel four dates at the end of a four-week European tour.

"His doctor hoped that with rest he'd get better, but unfortunately the issue has persisted," Allman's representative said in a statement. "Treatment is going to involve several days of hospitalization and 4-6 weeks of bed rest at home."

Allman expects to return to touring in the late fall to support of his highly acclaimed "Low Country Blues" album, his first solo work in 14 years, his management said.

The Nashville-born singer, keyboardist and songwriter, who earned a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, penned the hits "Midnight Rider" and "Whipping Post." The Allman Brothers Band, which was formed with his late brother Duane Allman, is known for its renditions of classic southern rock songs such as "Statesboro Blues" and "Black Hearted Woman."

His most recent tour comes on the heels of a July 27 benefit concert he gave on the eve of World Hepatitis Day. Allman suffers from Hepatitis C and is a spokesman for the Tune into Hep-C campaign.

The benefit, which starred The Allman Brothers Band, included Natalie Cole, the Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh, David Crosby, Graham Nash, and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons. It raised over a quarter million dollars to support the American Liver Foundation and the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable.

Allman also struggled with cocaine, heroin and alcohol problems through much of his adult life.

(Reporting by Jason Kandel; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Gregg Allman cancels dates for medical reasons (AP)

NEW YORK – Rock legend Gregg Allman has canceled tour dates from Aug. 26 to Sept. 15 because of a persistent illness.

A statement from Allman's publicist on Monday says the 63-year-old has an "upper respiratory condition" that will require several days of hospitalization and four to six weeks of bed rest.

Allman underwent a successful liver transplant last year and returned to the road just a few months later.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee canceled the final four dates of his recent European tour because of the same illness. Doctors had hoped the rest would resolve the ailment, but Allman remained sick.

Allman plans to reschedule the canceled dates and hopes to return to the road in late fall.

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Gregg Allman: living proof of music's healing power (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – Gregg Allman is a believer in the healing power of music.

Barely a year after undergoing a liver transplant, the veteran American musician is back on the road with his regular band, looking a little frail but in good voice and excellent spirits.

The Gregg Allman band kicked off a European mini-tour at London's Barbican Center Friday, with two further UK dates scheduled plus more in Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany before they head home next month for a lengthy tour of the United States and Canada.

The backbone of their set is a series of songs from the album "Low Country Blues," his first record for 14 years.

It was released in February to critical acclaim and commercial success to match, debuting at No. 7 in the U.S. Billboard chart.

Diagnosed with hepatitis C and advised he needed a new liver, Allman decided to go into the studio to record an album of songs by his blues heroes, before going under the surgeon's knife in June last year.

With award-winning producer/guitarist T-Bone Burnett at the helm, the result is a spare, no-frills collection of classics by the likes of "Sleepy" John Estes, Skip James, B.B. King and Muddy Waters.

It shows off Allman's skills as a hollering blues performer and a musician of eclectic good taste.

Allman, 63, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band with his brother Duane in 1969, says music was a consolation during his traumatic health problems before and since his transplant surgery.

"It was a great feeling to have a real good record in the can," he told Reuters backstage at the Barbican. His famous long blond tresses are now white and tied in a ponytail and his bushy beard trimmed neatly.

He said the operation was "the most horrendous pain I have ever been through" and it had taken him a year to recover enough to be able to tour again, although he is still in pain and will need further treatment later in the year. "I feel like someone hit me with a sledgehammer. But I'm alive."

As part of his musical therapy, he went on a brief tour with Elton John and Leon Russell four months after the operation. "But it was good and it got me out of the house."

Greeted by a standing ovation when he took to the Barbican stage, Allman was subjected throughout the performance to shouts and whoops from an audience that was more like a meeting of the faithful than a gathering of music fans.

However, he dealt with them with grace and southern charm and led the band on a brief tour through his back catalog and some choice cuts from "Low Country Blues," switching between his trademark Hammond B-3 organ and electric and acoustic guitars.

Shunning the airs and mannerisms of the rock star performer, he preferred to showcase the talents of fellow musicians in his rocking ensemble, with some stunning solos from guitarist Scott Sharrard, pianist Bruce Katz and sax man Jay Collins. For the London gig only, the band was augmented by two British horn players, Lee Badau on sax and trumpeter Alistair Walker.

Saving the best until last, the hyperactive crowd was treated to encores of Estes' "Floating Bridge" a haunting track from "Low Country Blues," and a barnstorming rendition of Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues," a vinyl classic from the Allman Brothers' 1971 live album "At Fillmore East," with Sharrard recreating the slide guitar of the late Duane Allman.

Allman appeared genuinely touched by the warmth of the reception from the London crowd. As he left, he wound his way slowly along the edge of the stage to shake outstretched hands and mumble thank-yous.

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Gregg Allman is latest rocker to announce memoir (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Gregg Allman, frontman for the legendary Allman Brothers Band, has signed with William Morrow to bring his untitled memoir to print in spring 2012.

Rock memoirs have been a hot category for publishers the last several years. The announcement comes two days after The Who guitarist Pete Townshend signed with HarperCollins (which also owns William Morrow) and on the heels of bestsellers by Steven Tyler, Sammy Hagar and Keith Richards.

Allman's book was on the shortlist of great unwritten rock memoirs. William Morrow describes the project as an "unflinching" look at his life. In a statement announcing the deal, Allman said, "When I got out of high school, I thought, I'll take a year or two off and play the clubs, get this out of my system and then go to med school. More than 40 years later, I figure it's finally time to write about this crazy journey that's taken me around the world and back."

Allman founded the Allman Brothers Band in 1969 with his brother Duane, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson. The band's first three albums -- "The Allman Brothers Band," "Idlewild South" and "At Fillmore East" -- were huge hits that made southern rock a national sensation.

Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident in Macon, Ga., in October 1971. The band continued on, releasing "Eat a Peach" in 1972. But in November 1972, Berry Oakley died in a motorcycle crash not far from the site of Duane's death. The band broke up in 1976, and though it re-formed several times in the ensuing decades, nothing else matched the magic of those first few years.

Gregg Allman had a successful solo career, but his personal life dominated the headlines. He battled drug addiction and was arrested several times for it. His 1975 marriage to Cher turned him into a tabloid sensation (satirized in Doonesbury). They had one son together, Elijah Blue Allman (Allman has four other children). Allman grew sick of living in Los Angeles and tired of the way Cher courted media attention, so they split up in 1979.

Allman continued to tour both as a solo act and with versions of the Allman Brothers Band in the '80s and '90s. His biggest solo hit was 1987's "I'm No Angel," which sold more than 500,000 copies. In 2007, he was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and in 2010 had a successful liver transplant.

William Morrow senior vp and director of creative development Lisa Sharkey, who acquired the book, said: "If ever there was a musician with a devoted fan base and an incredible life story to tell, Gregg Allman is the one. This memoir truly has it all."

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

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Gregg Allman is latest rocker to announce memoir (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Gregg Allman, frontman for the legendary Allman Brothers Band, has signed with William Morrow to bring his untitled memoir to print in spring 2012.

Rock memoirs have been a hot category for publishers the last several years. The announcement comes two days after The Who guitarist Pete Townshend signed with HarperCollins (which also owns William Morrow) and on the heels of bestsellers by Steven Tyler, Sammy Hagar and Keith Richards.

Allman's book was on the shortlist of great unwritten rock memoirs. William Morrow describes the project as an "unflinching" look at his life. In a statement announcing the deal, Allman said, "When I got out of high school, I thought, I'll take a year or two off and play the clubs, get this out of my system and then go to med school. More than 40 years later, I figure it's finally time to write about this crazy journey that's taken me around the world and back."

Allman founded the Allman Brothers Band in 1969 with his brother Duane, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson. The band's first three albums -- "The Allman Brothers Band," "Idlewild South" and "At Fillmore East" -- were huge hits that made southern rock a national sensation.

Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident in Macon, Ga., in October 1971. The band continued on, releasing "Eat a Peach" in 1972. But in November 1972, Berry Oakley died in a motorcycle crash not far from the site of Duane's death. The band broke up in 1976, and though it re-formed several times in the ensuing decades, nothing else matched the magic of those first few years.

Gregg Allman had a successful solo career, but his personal life dominated the headlines. He battled drug addiction and was arrested several times for it. His 1975 marriage to Cher turned him into a tabloid sensation (satirized in Doonesbury). They had one son together, Elijah Blue Allman (Allman has four other children). Allman grew sick of living in Los Angeles and tired of the way Cher courted media attention, so they split up in 1979.

Allman continued to tour both as a solo act and with versions of the Allman Brothers Band in the '80s and '90s. His biggest solo hit was 1987's "I'm No Angel," which sold more than 500,000 copies. In 2007, he was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and in 2010 had a successful liver transplant.

William Morrow senior vp and director of creative development Lisa Sharkey, who acquired the book, said: "If ever there was a musician with a devoted fan base and an incredible life story to tell, Gregg Allman is the one. This memoir truly has it all."

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

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Allman Brothers Band's Greg Allman has book deal (AP)

NEW YORK – Welcome the latest rock star to the memoir club: Greg Allman.

A founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, Allman has a book deal with William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Morrow announced Thursday that the "unflinching" memoir, currently untitled, would come out in the spring of 2012.

The Allman Brothers are one of Southern rock's greatest bands and are known for such classics as "Whipping Post" and "Ramblin' Man." Allman, a singer, songwriter, guitarist and keyboard player, will write about everything from the death of his brother, Duane; to his brief marriage to Cher to his drug and alcohol problems.

Memoirs have come recently from fellow rock stars Keith Richards, Steven Tyler and Sammy Hagar.

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