Former Allman Brothers Band Member Johnny Neel Passed Away At 70

Former Allman Brothers Band member Johnny Neel has passed away at the age of 70. While no official cause of death has been reported, Neel had suffered a stroke five years ago but made a remarkable recovery and continued performing.

Fellow musician and former bandmate Warren Haynes confirmed the sad news, paying tribute to Neel in a heartfelt social media post. Haynes shared:

“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.”

Music and Friendship With Allman Brothers

Johnny Neel’s journey with the Allman Brothers began when he joined the band as a keyboardist and harmonica player for their 20th-anniversary reunion tour in 1989. He played a key role in shaping their 1990 album Seven Turns, co-writing four songs, including the hit single “Good Clean Fun,” which topped the Billboard mainstream rock chart. Neel also contributed to the band’s final studio album, Hittin’ the Note in 2003, co-writing “Maydell.”

Born blind on June 11, 1954, in Wilmington, Delaware, Johnny Neel’s musical path started early. By the time he was 12, he had already recorded his first single with a group called the Shapes of Soul. Neel often spoke about the influence of Motown and soul music on his early life, particularly during his time at the Maryland School for the Blind. “Everyone there either played piano or tuned one,” Neel once recalled. “The Stevie Wonder Fingertips album hit me because we were exactly the same age – 12.”

After recording two regionally successful independent albums, Neel moved to Nashville in the early 1980s, where he connected with Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers. This friendship eventually brought Neel into the Allman Brothers Band lineup. He also collaborated with Betts on his 1988 solo album Pattern Disruptive, co-writing seven songs and singing lead vocals on “Far Cry.”

Warren Haynes fondly recalled his first encounter with Neel at a blues jam at Nashville’s Bluebird Café. “He sang better than their singer and played better harp than their harp player,” Haynes remembered. “Afterward, I approached him, and he said, ‘I’m really a keyboard player but this band doesn’t have keyboards.’ I thought, ‘Wow, he must be a helluva keyboard player’ — and he was.”

Johnny Neels’ Musical Collaborations and Legacy

Throughout his career, Neel’s talent crossed paths with many notable artists. One of his standout co-writes, “Maydell,” appeared on Johnny Neel and the Last Word in 1994, after being covered by John Mayall a year earlier. Neel also contributed to Warren Haynes’ Tales of Ordinary Madness (1993), Life Before Insanity with Gov’t Mule (2000), and Michael McDonald’s Blue Obsession (2000).

Michael McDonald also paid tribute to Neel’s immense musical talent. McDonald shared on social media:

“I was blessed by Johnny’s immense talent on the first record I recorded in Nashville.
“His musical gift was legendary by then, and I consider it an honor to have crossed musical paths with him, if only briefly.”

In addition to his collaborations with Haynes and McDonald, Neel worked with Gov’t Mule members Matt Abts and Allen Woody in the side project X2. Earlier this year, Neel, Haynes, and Abts appeared on Live from the Lone Star Roadhouse, a recording of a 1988 Dickey Betts Band concert in New York City.

As Warren Haynes said, “Johnny Neel stories are legendary”—and his musical legacy is even more so.