Forrest Richard Betts (born December 12, 1943), known as Dickey Betts, is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band.

Early in his career he partnered with Duane Allman, introducing melodic twin guitar harmony and counterpoint which “rewrote the rules for how two rock guitarists can work together, completely scrapping the traditional rhythm/lead roles to stand toe to toe”. Following Allman’s death in 1971, Betts assumed sole lead guitar duties during the peak of the group’s commercial success in the mid-1970s.

Betts was the writer and singer on the Allmans’ only hit single, “Ramblin’ Man“. He also gained renown for composing instrumentals, with one appearing on most of the group’s albums, the most notable of these being “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “Jessica” (the latter widely known as the theme to Top Gear).

He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won a best rock performance Grammy Award with the band for “Jessica” in 1996. Betts was ranked No. 58 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list in 2003, and #61 on the list published in 2011. Betts departed the Allman Brothers Band in 2000 under acrimonious circumstances and continued with a solo career that had begun in the 1970s.