(CNN) Gregg Allman, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band who overcame family tragedy, drug addiction and health problems to become a grizzled elder statesman for the blues music he loved, has died. He was 69.

Allman died due to liver cancer complications at his home in Savannah, Georgia, and he was "surrounded by his family and friends," Michael Lehman, Allman's longtime manager and close friend, told CNN.

Veteran war correspondent Clare Hollingworth, who broke the news that World War II had started, died on January 10. She was 105.

Author and filmmaker William Peter Blatty, who scared millions with the best-selling novel and Oscar-winning movie "The Exorcist," died January 12 from a form of blood cancer called multiple myeloma, his widow said. He was 89.

Actress Mary Tyler Moore , whose eponymous 1970s series helped usher in a new era for women on television, died January 25, according to her longtime representative Mara Buxbaum. She was 80.

Actor Richard Hatch , who was known for his role as Captain Apollo in the original "Battlestar Galactica" series that ran from 1978-1979, died Tuesday, February 7, according to his manager Michael Kaliski. The 71-year-old actor had been battling pancreatic cancer, according to a statement from his family. Hatch played Tom Zarek in the show remake that started in 2003.

Clyde Stubblefield, seen here on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," died February 18 at age 73. He was the drummer for James Brown in the 1960s and '70s. He laid down the groove on such Brown hits as "Cold Sweat," "Sex Machine" and "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud." The drum break in the song "Funky Drummer" has been sampled and used in over 1,000 songs.

Clyde Stubblefield, seen here on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," died February 18 at age 73. He was the drummer for James Brown in the 1960s and '70s. He laid down the groove on such Brown hits as "Cold Sweat," "Sex Machine" and "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud." The drum break in the song "Funky Drummer" has been sampled and used in over 1,000 songs.

Actor Bill Paxton , whose extensive career included films such as "Twister," "Aliens" and "Titanic," died February 26, according to a representative for his family. He was 61. Paxton died "due to complications from surgery," a statement said.

Judge Joseph Wapner , from the popular reality television program "The People's Court," died February 26, according to his son Judge Fred Wapner. He was 97.

Comedian and actor Don Rickles died at his home in Los Angeles on April 6, according to his publicist Paul Shefrin. Rickles was 90.

Comedian Charlie Murphy died April 12 after a battle with leukemia, according to his publicist Domenick Nati. He was 57. Murphy rose to fame for his work on the popular "Chapelle's Show," where he was a co-star and writer.

Actress Erin Moran , best known as kid sister Joanie Cunningham on the TV show "Happy Days," was found dead on April 22. She was 56. Moran likely died from complications of Stage 4 cancer, officials said.

Filmmaker Jonathan Demme , whose Oscar-winning thriller "The Silence of the Lambs" terrified audiences, died April 26 at the age of 73. Here, Demme works on the "Silence of the Lambs" set with actor Anthony Hopkins in 1991. Demme's other films include "Philadelphia," "Married to the Mob" and a remake of "The Manchurian Candidate."

Veteran Indian actor Vinod Khanna died May 4 at the age of 70. Khanna, who had been dubbed Bollywood's "original heartthrob," reportedly battled cancer for several years.

American bobsledder Steven Holcomb , who piloted a four-man team to Olympic gold in 2010, died on May 6. The 37-year-old was found in his room at the US training center in Lake Placid, New York. No cause of death was given.

Former US Sen. Jim Bunning , the only National Baseball Hall of Fame member ever to serve in Congress, died May 26 at the age of 85.

Actor Martin Landau , who starred in the 1960s television show "Mission Impossible" and won an Oscar for playing Bela Lugosi in the movie "Ed Wood," died July 15 following "unexpected complications during a short hospitalization," his publicist Dick Guttman said. Landau was 89.

Comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory , who broke barriers in the 1960s and became one of the first African-Americans to perform at white clubs, died on August 19. He was 84.

Longtime character actor Harry Dean Stanton died September 15 at the age of 91, according to his agent, John S. Kelly. Stanton, whose gaunt, worn looks were more recognizable to many than his name, appeared in more than 100 movies and 50 TV shows, including "Alien," "Repo Man," "Paris, Texas" and "Pretty in Pink."

Former boxing champion Jake LaMotta , right, died September 19 at the age of 95. LaMotta was played by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning movie "Raging Bull."

Singer Charles Bradley , who was known as the "Screaming Eagle of Soul" because of his raspy voice and stirring performances, died September 23 at the age of 68.

Rock legend Tom Petty died October 2 after suffering cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, California, according to Tony Dimitriades, longtime manager of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Petty was 66.

Hall of Fame football quarterback Y.A. Tittle died October 8 at the age of 90. Tittle made the Pro Bowl seven times over his 17-year career, and he was the NFL's MVP in 1963. In this photo, Tittle squats on the field after being hit hard during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1964. This became an iconic photograph that helped cement Tittle's name in football history.

Fashion designer and popular "Project Runway" contestant Mychael Knight died October 17 outside Atlanta, family spokesman Jerris Madison told CNN. Knight was 39. No cause of death was released.

Former NASA astronaut Dick Gordon, the command module pilot on the second lunar landing mission, died on November 6. He was 88. Gordon spent more than 316 hours in space over two missions.

Former NASA astronaut Dick Gordon, the command module pilot on the second lunar landing mission, died on November 6. He was 88. Gordon spent more than 316 hours in space over two missions.

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Roy Halladay , a two-time winner of the Cy Young Award, died in a plane crash on November 7, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office in Florida. Halladay was 40.

Longtime gossip columnist Liz Smith , who started her column at the New York Daily News in 1976, died on November 12, according to the newspaper. She was 94. Known affectionately as the "the Grand Dame of Dish," Smith's legendary work included a chronicle of Donald and Ivana Trump's divorce, which made front-page news.

Country music legend Mel Tillis died early on November 19, according to a statement from his publicist. He was 85. Tillis was a prolific singer-songwriter who penned more than 1,000 songs and recorded more than 60 albums in a career that spanned six decades.

Beloved Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor died December 4 at a hospital in Mumbai, India, a hospital spokesman said. The 79-year-old actor had been battling chronic kidney disease, local media reported.

Legendary sports broadcaster Dick Enberg died on December 21. He was 82. Most recently, Enberg was the play-by-play voice of the San Diego Padres.

Former astronaut Bruce McCandless II , famously captured in a 1984 photo documenting the first untethered flight in space, died December 21, NASA said. He was 80.

More than 50 years after her star turn in "The Sound of Music," actress Heather Menzies Urich died of brain cancer on December 24. She was 68 years old. Menzies Urich played Louisa von Trapp in the classic 1965 movie.

Broadway and television actress Rose Marie , best known for her role as Sally Rogers on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," died December 28, her publicist said, citing her family. She was 94.

He will be buried at Rose Hill cemetery in Macon, Georgia, though a funeral date has not yet been set, Lehman said. Two other founding members of the Allman Brothers -- guitarist Duane Allman and bassist Berry Oakley -- are also buried at Rose Hill Cemetery.

Allman had been working on a yet-to-be-released solo album entitled "Southern Blood." Lehman said Allman was very enthusiastic about the project and was listening to tracks from the album just last night. A release date for "Southern Blood" has not yet been announced.

Cher, to whom Allman was briefly married in the 1970s, reacted on Twitter Saturday afternoon.

IVE TRIED...

WORDS ARE IMPOSSIBLE GUI GUI💔

FOREVER,

CHOOCH💋 — Cher (@cher) May 27, 2017

"I've tried ... words are impossible," she wrote.

Beatles drummer Ringo Starr tweeted: "Rest in peace Greg Allman peace and love to all the family"

Rest in peace Greg Allman peace and love to all the family 😎✌️🌟💖🎶🎵🎶🎵☮️🌺🌹 — #RingoStarr (@ringostarrmusic) May 27, 2017

Allman -- along with older brother Duane and a handful of other musicians including guitarist Dickey Betts and drummer Butch Trucks, who died in January also at the age of 69 -- helped form the eponymous Southern band whose blend of rock, blues, country and jazz made them one of the biggest and most influential touring acts of the 1970s.

Gregg Allman played the Hammond organ, sang lead vocals and wrote some of the band's signature songs, including "Midnight Rider" and "Wasted Words," the ballad "Melissa," and the blues epic "Whipping Post." He and Betts took over leadership of the band after Duane was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1971 and before the band broke up for the first time in the late '70s.

Allman continued recording and touring, both with reunited versions of the Allmans Brothers Band and with his own bands, for some 40 years. The Allman Brothers -- inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 -- won new legions of fans in recent years with the reorganized group's epic live shows, especially their unprecedented string of 238 sold-out concerts at New York's Beacon Theater.

"My love of playing is still the same as when I was 24. In fact, I appreciate it all more and understand it much better," Allman told the Wall Street Journal in 2015. "I'm grateful for every gold record, good review and award I've ever received, but I'm just so into what I'm doing and that's where my focus is."

Musician Gregg Allman performs onstage during day two of 2015 Stagecoach, California's Country Music Festival, at The Empire Polo Club on April 25, 2015 in Indio, California.

Gregg Allman was born in Nashville in 1947, a year after brother Duane. Tragedy struck the family early; their father, Willis Allman, was shot and killed by a hitchhiker when Gregg was 2.

When the boys were adolescents their mother moved with the kids to Daytona Beach, Florida, where Gregg bought his first guitar at a Sears store with money he earned from his paper route.

"I ... proceeded to wear that son of a b***h out," Allman later told Rolling Stone . "I wouldn't eat or sleep or drink or anything. Just play that damn guitar."

Duane got his own guitar too, and learned how to play it by picking along to songs on R&B radio. Soon the brothers were playing in local bands before forming their own outfit, the Allman Joys.

After promising live gigs around the South and a disastrous stint in Los Angeles, where a record label tried to mold them into a psychedelic rock band, the Allman Brothers formed in earnest in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969.

Gregg became the band's chief songwriter, while Duane, who had played on records by Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett as a session picker in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, was its guitar whiz and de facto leader. The band moved to Macon, Georgia, where they jammed daily and consumed large amounts of alcohol and drugs.

"My generation were heavy drug users," Gregg Allman told the Daily Telegraph in 2011. "We didn't know no different, we didn't know no other way."

Their first record flopped, but the Allmans built a regional following through constant touring. So they put out a live album, "At Fillmore East," recorded over two nights at a New York club. Buoyed by long, freewheeling solos that captured the band's energy onstage, it went gold.

Three months after its 1971 release, and just as the band was becoming nationally known, Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident in Macon. Gregg was devastated, but he and the other band members agreed they should push on.

The next few years saw the Allman Brothers become arguably the most popular American band in the country. Albums "Eat a Peach" and "Brothers and Sisters" were huge critical and commercial successes, spawning such radio hits as "Melissa," "Blue Sky" and "Ramblin' Man," and the band's live shows drew raves.

Many of their songs were marked by Allman's soulful, weathered voice, which even in his early recordings, said Sheryl Crow, "sounded like he'd already lived a thousand lifetimes."

But tragedy was never far away. Bassist Oakley was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1972, and the band gradually succumbed to drug abuse and internal bickering. Gregg Allman alienated bandmates when he testified against a band employee on trial for drug charges, and the Allman Brothers split up in 1976.

By this time Gregg Allman was married to Cher -- the third of his six wives -- with whom he spent three turbulent years. The two had a son, musician Elijah Blue Allman, and were frequent celebrity tabloid fodder before divorcing in 1978.

Allman kept a low profile for much of the 1980s -- his gritty sound didn't fit the synth-pop trends of that era -- although he made a comeback with his 1987 album "I'm No Angel," which became a surprise hit on rock radio.

The Allman Brothers reunited in 1989 and would tour on and off over the next 25 years.

In the 1990s Gregg Allman moved to California and dabbled in acting, appearing as a drug lord in the 1991 movie, "Rush." After decades of drug and alcohol abuse, he finally got clean in 1995 after being embarrassed by his drunken acceptance speech at the Allman Brothers' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Allman moved in 2000 to Savannah, Georgia, where he spent the remaining years of his life recording music, touring and battling health problems. He contracted Hepatitis C in 2007, blaming it on the use of a dirty needle while getting a tattoo. In 2010, Allman received a liver transplant.

In 2012, at age 64, he made headlines when he was briefly engaged to a 24-year-old.

Actor William Hurt was set to play Gregg Allman in a biopic, "Midnight Rider," but filming was suspended in 2014 when an assistant camera operator was struck and killed by a train on the movie's rural Georgia set.

Despite this setback, his substance abuse, stormy romantic history and other difficulties, Allman sounded at peace with himself in his 2012 memoir.

"If I fell over dead right now," he wrote, "I have led some kind of life."