Gary Rossington

Gary Rossington, the last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd who survived the band's 1977 plane crash, has died at 71.

The band continued to record and tour, with various personnel changes, to the present day. It featured the band’s second-biggest pop single in “What’s Your Name,” which chronicled the often-debaucherous life on the road, complete with fights, boring down time and, especially, groupie meet-ups. After playing a show in Greenville, SC, the band members and some crew boarded a chartered plane bound for the next tour stop in Baton Rouge, LA. The aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed in a rural area near Gillsburg, MS. It placed three more studios albums in the Billboard Top 20 from 1974-76 with Second Helping, Nuthin’ Fancy and Gimme Back My Bullets. The crash occurred just three days before the release of Street Survivors, which would become the highest-charting disc of Skynyrd’s career, reaching No. He rejoined the band when Van Zant’s brother Johnny reformed the group in 1987, and the band had been recording and touring ever since. The group’s success fed the genre’s popularity, and other acts including The Outlaws, Molly Hatchet and .38 Special would on to score platinum albums. Skynyrd would make four more studio albums and a live album before the plane crash. Featuring Dale Krantz on vocals, their 1980 debut album made the Top 15 and went gold, spawning an FM hit with “Don’t Misunderstand Me.” The group broke up after its 1981 follow-up disc, This Is the Way. They formed in 1964 in Jacksonville, FL with the name My Backyard. “Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does.”

LYNYRD SKYNYRD guitarist Gary Rossington has died. The 71-year-old musician's passing was announced by his surviving bandmates earlier today (Sunday, ...

Despite “101 strange things happening," Rossington said that he was happy to know that LYNYRD SKYNYRD's music is still connecting with people. "The notes are the same, and the songs are the same. "I look out and don't see the original band — it's strange. Last December, Rossington told Rolling Stone magazine about LYNYRD SKYNYRD's enduring relevance: "It's a tribute band right now, and everybody knows it's not the original. I don't want to just say, 'Well, we're never going to end,' because I don't want to die and then it end that way — which is a heavy thing to talk about, but I have to." "That's why I was calling it a farewell tour.

The guitarist, who provided the slide guitar lead of “Free Bird,” was hospitalized due to heart problems in recent years.

[Lynyrd Skynyrd](https://pitchfork.com/artists/22962-lynyrd-skynyrd/), has died, the band announced. Rossington has been hospitalized multiple times due to heart problems in recent years, and in 2021, left the band, citing how travel was negatively impacting his blood oxygen levels. “It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today,” the band announced on

The guitarist had been dealing with health issues over the past couple of decades.

Prayers to Dale and the rest of his family.” “I’m the last one here, so to be able to tell their story and make sure they’re remembered, I’m blessed to be able to do that. In 2016 Krantz-Rossington noted that she and her husband had agreed that continuing to play music was the best thing for him. Skynyrd is, in fact, planning to join forces with ZZ Top for The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour starting July 21 in West Palm Beach, Fla. Tributes to Rossington began hitting social media immediately after the band’s announcement. Signer Ronnie Van Zant, who played on a rival baseball team, jammed with the team after one of their games, playing the Rolling Stones’ “Time Is on My Side,” and the rest was history. Skynyrd, meanwhile reformed in 1987, ostensibly to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the plane crash; the band has continued ever since, recording nine more studio albums and going through a number of number of lineup changes. “We were a little bit of everything, really,” Rossington said of the burgeoning band’s approach. The group continued to build a following through hard touring and tracks such as “Sweet Home Alabama” — its answer to Neil Young’s “Southern Man.” Rossington co-wrote that track as well as other Skynyrd favorites such as “I Ain’t the One,” “Things Goin’ On,” “Don’t Ask Me No Questions,” “Gimme Back My Bullets” and “What’s Your Name.” The first phase of Skynyrd ended on Oct. [wrote that](https://www.facebook.com/LynyrdSkynyrd/posts/765593788258088), “It is without deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington today. Please keep Dale, Mary and Annie and the entire Rossington family in your prayers and respect the family’s privacy at this time.”

Gary Rossington, founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, has died. "Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven," the band's statement read.

Drummer Burns left the band in 1974 and was [replaced by Artimus Pyle](https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2017/08/29/judge-lynyrd-skynyrd-film-violates-3-decade-old-agreement/105078536/). “We had a dream back in the day to be in a big band and make it and then it was taken away from (some of) them real quick. [If I leave here tomorrow: Highlights of Lynyrd Skynyrd documentary](https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2018/08/17/what-things-we-learned-lynyrd-skynyrd-documentary/1005540002/) Of Rossington’s innumerable contributions to Lynyrd Skynyrd, his slide guitar work in the everlasting opus “Free Bird” underscores his importance to the band’s sound. Just being able to talk about Ronnie and Allen (Collins, who died in 1990) and share their music with the audience,” Rossington said. (Those who died in the plane crash), they didn’t get a chance to see how Skynyrd developed, how ‘Free Bird’ became an anthem. The band was inducted into the "Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does." "It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today," the statement said. [Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.](https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/lynyrd-skynyrd) [The roots: Lynyrd Skynyrd's history in Jacksonville](https://stories.usatodaynetwork.com/lynyrdskynyrd/) [guitarist Ed King](https://www.tennessean.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/music/2018/08/23/ed-king-of-lynyrd-skynyrd-over-the-years/37578693/) (who left in 1975 and was replaced by Steve Gaines in 1976; Gaines and his sister Cassie died in the plane crash). The tour’s name was both a nod to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ill-fated 1977 “Street Survivors Tour” (which was changed to “Tour of the Survivors” following the devastating plane crash) and the realization that the band’s road tenure was likely sunsetting.

Gary Rossington, Lynyrd Skynyrd's last surviving original member who also helped to found the group, died Sunday at the age of 71.

“I don’t think of it as tragedy — I think of it as life,” he said upon the group’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2006. Adopting Lynyrd Skynyrd as the group’s name — both a reference to a similarly named sports coach at Rossington’s high school and to a character in the 1963 novelty hit “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” — the band released their debut album (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-’nérd) in 1973. Rossington, Burns, Van Zant, and guitarist Allen Collins gathered that afternoon at Burns’ Jacksonville home to jam the Rolling Stone’s “Time Is on My Side.” “It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today,” the band wrote on Facebook. “Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does. “It was a devastating thing," he told Rolling Stone in 2006.

The only member of the US rock band to appear on all of its albums, Rossington survived the 1977 plane crash that killed several of his bandmates.

Twenty people on the plane survived, including Rossington, who was knocked unconscious; he awoke with the plane’s door on top of him. Johnny Van Zant – Ronnie’s brother and Skynyrd’s frontman since 1977 – once said: “I don’t think you can have Lynyrd Skynyrd without Gary Rossington.” Skinner had a zero-tolerance policy for boys with long hair – like Rossington, who was suspended and soon dropped out of school. Rossington co-wrote Sweet Home Alabama, a hit from their second album, as well as several other Skynyrd tracks, including I Ain’t The One, Things Goin’ On, Don’t Ask Me No Questions and Gimme Back My Bullets. Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does.” “I’m just an old guitar player, and we’ve spent our whole lives and the 10,000 hours of working to understand how to play and do it.

Rossington was the last survivor among the original three musicians who founded what would become the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd in the 1960s.

It was set to appear at a festival in Florida next week, though it was not immediately clear whether the death of Mr. “We wanted to do the guys who aren’t with us any more proud — and keep the name proud, too.” The band still tours. The long-haired musicians named the band, in part, after a physical education teacher, Leonard Skinner, who prohibited boys from having long hair. After meeting while playing on rival baseball teams in Jacksonville, Fla., an “impromptu afternoon jam session” spurred them to start a band, first under the name My Backyard, then the Noble Five — Allen Collins and Larry Junstrom had joined by then — and the One Percent, before they finally became Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969. [died in 2015 in a crash](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/robert-burns-jr-original-drummer-for-lynyrd-skynyrd-dies-at-64/2015/04/04/df123318-daf7-11e4-ba28-f2a685dc7f89_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_6) after his vehicle struck a tree.

Gary Rossington, Lynyrd Skynyrd's last surviving original member who also helped to found the group, died Sunday at the age of 71.

“I don’t think of it as tragedy — I think of it as life,” he said upon the group’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2006. Adopting Lynyrd Skynyrd as the group’s name — both a reference to a similarly named sports coach at Rossington’s high school and to a character in the 1963 novelty hit “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” — the band released their debut album (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-’nérd) in 1973. Rossington, Burns, Van Zant, and guitarist Allen Collins gathered that afternoon at Burns’ Jacksonville home to jam the Rolling Stone’s “Time Is on My Side.” “It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today,” the band wrote on Facebook. “Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does. “It was a devastating thing," he told Rolling Stone in 2006.

The guitarist survived a 1977 plane crash that killed members of the band.

King left the band in 1975, and was replaced by drummer Steve Gaines the following year. “Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does. They changed their name to Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969, Junstrom was replaced by bassist Leon Wilkeson and keyboardist Billy Powell and guitarist Ed King joined the band.

Guitarist Gary Rossington, the last surviving founding member of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, has died, the band announced on their official Facebook ...

Soon, the trio was joined by guitarist Allen Collins and bassist Larry Junstrom, and the crew performed under a handful of names before landing on Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969. “Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does. [inducted](https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/lynyrd-skynyrd) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and contributed to many of the group’s most iconic songs, including “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird.”

Gary Rossington, the last surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the guitarist and co-writer of rock classics like "Free Bird," has died.

Rossington further acknowledged the severity of his heart problems but said, “I don’t know how to do anything else but play… The songs and the music. “I don’t want to just say, ‘Well, we’re never going to end,’ because I don’t want to die and then it end that way. I took a screwdriver, of all things, and stuck it under the strings up at the nut, so it would raise the strings up like a steel guitar. In the 21st century, the group took on more of an image as politically right-leaning, between playing for a Republican convention event, putting out a 2009 album titled “God and Guns” and, as they had since the beginning, displaying the Confederate flag on stage. With the group having booked two tours since then, the “farewell” tag would seem to have been hasty. Then, I tuned the B string down to G — so the G and the B strings were both tuned to G. “I think the good outweighs the bad.” “I think a lot of bands are just copying us,” he told My Backyard spent five years touring bars and small venues throughout the South, with Rossington’s instrument of choice being a 1959 Gibson Les Paul named “Berniece” (in honor of his mother). “Me, Allen [Collins] and Ronnie started this band with a dream of making it big, and that dream came true. A week ago, in response to online fan queries about when or whether the guitarist would be returning to the touring lineup, the official Skynyrd Facebook account replied: “Gary will come to shows for guest appearances as he is feeling well and able.

Rossington's evocative slide playing on his Gibson SG helped make “Free Bird” the group's calling card. Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitarist Gary Rossington Dies.

“I don’t think of it as tragedy — I think of it as life,” he said upon the group’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2006. Adopting Lynyrd Skynyrd as the group’s name — both a reference to a similarly named sports coach at Rossington’s high school and to a character in the 1963 novelty hit “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” — the band released their debut album (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ’Skin-’nérd) in 1973. “It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today,” the band wrote on Facebook.

Lynyrd Skynyrd founding member and guitarist Gary Rossington died Sunday, the band announced. He was 71. “It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that ...

Rossington was the last surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Rossington had several close calls. A cause of death was not disclosed.

Rossington survived the band's tragic 1977 plane crash and returned in group's reformed lineup. The Associated Press · Posted: Mar 06, 2023 4:38 AM PST ...

"I think the good outweighs the bad." Gary was not only a friend, but a collaborator that wrote songs with me and played guitar with me in studio recordings and onstage so many times. In addition to Van Zant and the Gaines siblings, band crew member Dean Kilpatrick and pilots Walter McCreary and William Gray were also killed. Our hearts go out tonight to our brothers in @Skynyrd …. pic.twitter.com/wTJnTdjYmg— According to Rolling Stone, during a fateful Little League game, Ronnie Van Zant hit a line drive into the shoulder blades of opposing player Burns and met his future bandmates. "It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today," the band wrote on Facebook. "It was a devastating thing," he told Rolling Stone in 2006. At recent shows, Rossington would perform portions of the concert and sometimes sat out full gigs. A year later, he emerged from the 1977 plane crash that killed singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and a punctured stomach and liver. Chants of "Freebird!" He survived a car accident in 1976 in which he drove his Ford Torino into a tree.

Le musicien souffrait de problèmes cardiaques et avait subi en urgence une opération du coeur en 2021. Son groupe avait été rendu célèbre par les deux ...

Johnny Van Zant laissait entendre que la carrière de Lynyrd Skynyrd était sur le point de prendre fin, en partie dû à la santé déclinante de Gary Rossington. Le guitariste a survécu à plusieurs accidents graves dans les années 1970, notamment un accident de voiture en 1976 et le tristement célèbre crash aérien de 1977 dans lequel avaient péri trois membres du groupe : le chanteur Ronnie Van Zant, le guitariste et chanteur Steve Gaines et la choriste Cassie Gaines. Gary Rossington était le seul membre d’origine encore présent au sein de l’équipe de musiciens.

Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does," Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote on the band's social media ...

“I don’t think of it as tragedy — I think of it as life,” he said upon the group’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2006. “It was a devastating thing,” he told Rolling Stone in 2006. “It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today,” the band wrote on Facebook.

Le guitariste Gary Rossington, le dernier membre fondateur de Lynyrd Skynyrd, est mort dimanche à l'âge de 71 ans.

Mais il s'était reformé en 1987 avec de nouveaux membres, dont le jeune frère de Van Zant, Johnny, au chant. Son solo de guitare dans «Free Bird», une chanson longue de près de dix minutes, est considéré comme l'un des plus grands de l'histoire du rock. Lynyrd Skynyrd n'a pas précisé la cause du décès.

Gary Rossington, le dernier membre original survivant de Lynyrd Skynyrd qui a également aidé à fonder le groupe, est décédé dimanche à l'âge de 71 ans.

Une collection de blues-rock teinté de country et de soul sudiste, l'album comprenait désormais des classiques comme «Tuesday's Gone», «Simple Man» et «Gimme Three Steps», mais c'est le morceau de clôture, le «Free Bird» de près de 10 minutes, qui est devenu la carte de visite du groupe, en grande partie grâce au slide évocateur de Rossington joué sur sa Gibson SG. Rossington est né le 4 décembre 1951 à Jacksonville, en Floride, et a été élevé par sa mère après la mort de son père. Il a survécu à un accident de voiture en 1976 dans lequel il a conduit sa Ford Torino dans un arbre, inspirant la chanson de mise en garde du groupe «That Smell».

'Sweet Home Alabama' guitarist was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

[Wayfair Coupon - 20% Off Sitewide](https://www.wsj.com/coupons/wayfair) No cause of death was given. Rossington, who was 71 years old, died on Sunday, the group said in a Facebook post.

Illustre représentant du rock du Sud américain, Lynyrd Skynyrd est surtout connu pour ses deux chansons cultes, Sweet Home Alabama et Free Bird. Gary est ...

Mais il s'était reformé en 1987 avec de nouveaux membres, dont le jeune frère de Van Zant, Johnny, au chant. Lynyrd Skynyrd n'a pas précisé la cause du décès. Le dernier membre fondateur de Lynyrd Skynyrd, le guitariste Gary Rossington, est mort dimanche à l'âge de 71 ans, a annoncé le groupe de rock américain.

ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons calls Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington, who died Sunday, 'the last of the breed.'

It’s so hard on me,” he [told Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/rock-band-tours-without-original-members-allman-brothers-1234637630/) last November. [plane crash](https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/remembering-lynyrd-skynyrds-deadly-1977-plane-crash-2-195371/) — was the last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd and continued to tour with the group despite ongoing heart trouble. So when ZZ Top’s [Billy Gibbons](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/billy-gibbons/) learned that Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist [Gary Rossington](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/gary-rossington/) [died](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/gary-rossington-lynyrd-skynyrd-dead-1209960/) Sunday at 71, he found himself thinking back to all those miles traveled together on the road. Gary was the last of the breed and will be missed.” “Gary Rossington’s loss is especially profound for us as we’ve spent countless hours in his company on tour and all points in between,” Gibbons tells Rolling Stone. A fellow Southern-rock guitar hero, Gibbons raves about his fallen comrade’s deft playing.

Gary Rossington, the last surviving original member and original guitarist for the rock band Lynard Skynard, passed away at the age of 71 yesterday.

RIP Gary Rossington, God Bless the Lynyrd Gary was not only a friend, but a collaborator that wrote songs with me and played guitar with me in studio recordings and onstage so many times. Photo via Lynard Skynard Official Facebook Page