Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band Dead at 69

Southern-rock legend Gregg Allman has died at age 69, People magazine reports.

The rocker had been diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1999, undergoing a liver transplant in 2010. Recent health woes led to tour-date cancellations and rumors he was in hospice care, but Allman wrote on his site in April, "I just wanted y'all to know that I'm currently home in Savannah resting on my doctor's orders. I want to thank you for all the love that you are sending. Looking forward to seeing everyone again. Keep Rockin."

Allman passed away at home Saturday in Savannah, according to manager and close pal Michael Lehman, who wrote on Allman's site, “I have lost a dear friend and the world has lost a brilliant pioneer in music. He was a kind and gentle soul with the best laugh I ever heard. His love for his family and bandmates was passionate as was the love he had for his extraordinary fans. Gregg was an incredible partner and an even better friend. We will all miss him.”

Allman, along with his brother Duane and four other musicians, founded the Allman Brothers Band in 1969. The band continued to perform under the name even after Duane died in a motorcycle accident two years later, right after their breakthrough success with the album "At Fillmore East." The band called it quits in 2014. In January 2017, founding member Butch Trucks, a drummer, committed suicide.

Along with off-and-on performances with the band, Allman — married to pop legend Cher in the '70s and with whom he had his son Elijah Blue Allman — also had a successful solo career, won several Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

He achieved his greatest solo success with 2011's critically acclaimed "Low Country Blues," which hit the Top 5 on the Billboard 200.

Allman is survived by three sons and two daughters.

His ex, Cher, remembered him using the pet names they had for each other, on Twitter: