Delaware mourns Johnny Neel from Allman Brothers, dead at 70

Wilmington native Johnny Neel, a blind rock star who played keys for The Allman Brothers Band, died Sunday, Oct. 6. He was 70 years old.  

Forty years ago, Neel left Delaware for Music City in Nashville. 

Neel’s passing was announced on his Facebook page by Wilmingtonian Doug Jones, who is a business manager at Straight Up Sound Studio in Nashville, a studio Neel owned.  

“We have sad news to share. Johnny Neel passed away today from a massive heart failure. His wife Christine and his daughter Johnna were by his side,” the post said. “As many of you know, Johnny had a stroke in 2019 and never quite recovered from it. We are deeply saddened and will miss him greatly.”  

Jones created a GoFundMe for Neel’s family. It has raised over $4,400. The goal is $25,000.  

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Despite being blind at birth, Neel had a vision for greatness. After moving to Nashville in 1984, he played keyboard and organ for musicians and acts ranging from Gov’t Mule and Peter Wolf to Willie Nelson and Todd Snider. 

And after years of working as a session musician and songwriter in Nashville, Neel joined the reunited Allman Brothers Band in 1989 for one album — “Seven Turns” — and an extensive tour behind the single, “Good Clean Fun,” which was co-written by Neel. On that same Allman Brothers Band album, the song “True Gravity,” with Neel on the keys, was nominated for a Grammy Award for best rock instrumental. 

Additionally, Neel toured with jam bands like Blue Floyd, Deep Fried and Grease Factor before taking to the road with Bruce Willis and his blues band, the Accelerators, in 2005.  

The decorated keyboardist was inducted into the Delaware Rock & Roll Society’s Hall of Fame in 2019.  

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George Thorogood praised Johnny Neel 

Before making his debut at the Freeman Arts Pavilion in Selbyville this past summer, for his 50th anniversary tour, Wilmington-born rock legend George Thorogood praised Neel during an interview with Delaware Online/The News reporter Ryan Cormier that published in April.  

When asked which Delaware bands where his contemporaries back in the day, the 74-year-old Thorogood answered: 

“All of them. There was Lisa Jack and the Boys in the Back. The fabulous Watson Brothers. Blind Johnny [Neel] who was a genius and should have been a superstar.” 

June Jam was one of Johnny Neel’s favorite spots 

In April, Neel told The News Journal that the June Jam festival in Houston held a special place in his heart. Neel said he played the event about 20 times and whenever he returned, it was like a reunion.  

“It was like the highlight of my year. I’d look forward to come back up there and see my old friends and play [for] Bob [Hartley],” Neel explained about June Jam. 

He was friends with Bob Hartley, the longtime president of June Jam. Hartley died suddenly at age 68 in April, and Neel said he appreciated that Hartley, who grew up in Dover, treated his festival staff and the other music artists kindly at June Jam, which the keys player noted isn’t always the case at other music festivals.     

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Johnny Neel had a wild sense of humor 

Neel had a comical sense of humor, and he displayed it when reminiscing about a funny story involving his late pal Hartley.  

As the story goes, Hartley purchased a limo at a Philadelphia auction that previously belonged to famous opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, and he’d bring June Jam staffers in the limo with him to see Neel and other popular rockers in concert over the years, said Brian Manges, who is Hartley’s best friend and longtime June Jam musical director.   

Manges, of Dover, said it was cool hanging out with Hartley backstage at Allman Brothers shows. Neel fondly recalled Hartley’s posh ride.  

“I was driving the limo!” the visually impaired keyboardist joked. “Bob Hartley’s a very good person and he loved music. … I hope he rests in peace.” 

Delaware music artists grieve Johnny Neel  

A wave of musicians and supporters from Delaware and Nashville have flooded Neel’s Facebook wall with over 700 comments, writing tributes in memory of the legend:

“RIP Johnny Neal,” singer-songwriter Warren Haynes, best known for being a longtime guitarist for the Allman Brothers, wrote on his own Facebook page. “Aside from being an amazing musician and singer, Johnny was one of the funniest people on the planet — a true character.” 

“Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry to hear this. Prayers of comfort and healing for all who knew and loved him,” wrote Judy Mangini, lead singer of the band Judy Sings the Blues, which was inducted into the Delaware Rock & Roll Society’s Hall of Fame in 2023.  

“So sad.. he will forever be a huge inspiration on all of us in many ways. My deepest condolences to you and Johnny’s family,” said Jake Banaszak, guitarist of Lower Case Blues, a band that is in Delaware’s Blues Hall of Fame.   

“He was a great mentor to me. A musical genius, and a bad mf,” said Pat Kane, a guitarist/vocalist for Kid Davis and The Bullets, a band that was inducted into the Delaware Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in September.  

“RIP Soul Bear. You certainly were one of a kind,” wrote Nashville’s Joanna Cotten, a former background singer for country superstar Eric Church.  

Cotten added, “So honored God crossed our paths on this earth. Now go find Aretha and Ray and have the best jam session ever known!”  

Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and X (@ryancormier).

If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters.