Lynyrd Skynyrd

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  Lynyrd Skynyrd

  More than a half century after the release of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s critically acclaimed debut album

  ‘Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd,’ they resonate as deeply with their multi-generational fan base

  today as when they first emerged out of Jacksonville, Florida in 1973. Few ensembles have had the

  deep impact in creating a lifestyle as Skynyrd has. The band travels forward with a primary mission

  of celebrating a legacy that honors all whom have had a resonating contribution to the lives of

  hundreds of millions of fans globally. Former members Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Allen

  Collins, Steve Gaines, Ed King, Billy Powell, Bob Burns, and Leon Wilkeson alongside others will

  forever remain significant contributors to this indelible repertoire and the band’s colorful history.

  Today, Lynyrd Skynyrd rocks on with a current line-up featuring Johnny Van Zant, Rickey

  Medlocke, Damon Johnson, Mark “Sparky” Matejka, Michael Cartellone, Robbie Harrington, Peter

  Keys, Carol Chase and Stacy Plunk.

  The rock and roll powerhouse continually tour, and as Van Zant shares, “It’s about the legacy of

  Lynyrd Skynyrd, and what it stands for, what the fans are all about. There’s nothing like getting out

  there playing a great show with Skynyrd and seeing people love this music.”

  With a catalog of over 60 albums, billions of streams, tens of millions of records sold, and the

  introduction of Hell House whiskey, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Lynyrd Skynyrd remain a cultural

  icon that appeal to all generations.

  Prior to his passing in March of 2023, the last surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd Gary

  Rossington expressed an earnest hope that the band's music would continue to be performed even

  after he wasn't around. At the time, he shared, “Y'know, when we started this band...we always

  wanted to be in front of people hearing our songs. I want our music to endure because I've seen

  people...when they don't play anymore, they kind of fade away and people quit talking about them.

  You don't hear their songs or see their image on the Internet or anything. We wanted to stay around.

  That was our dream, for the band to play and play our music and let that be heard." That dream has

  been fulfilled, perhaps even more profoundly than Rossington and the other founding members could

  have ever imagined.

  "This is all about the music and keeping it alive and keeping those guys alive through the music,"

  explains Johnny Van Zant, who stepped into his late brother and original Skynyrd frontman Ronnie

  Van Zant's spot back in 1986 and has been there ever since. "People want to hear it, and they want to

  hear it played live. I have people all the time saying, 'Thank you for carrying it on so we can

  experience it.'"

  Rickey Medlocke, who was with the band during 1970-71 and returned, at Rossington's invitation, in

  1996, adds that, "Gary expressed many times his wishes that the music didn't perish with him, that

  the legacy of the music would continue, not just on the radio or TV or in soundtracks but for the band

  to take it to the fans, go out and make sure that we delivered it 100 percent. That's what we do."

  During its first phase -- from the mid-60s to 1977 -- the band redefined the concept of Southern Rock

  on five studio albums and the incendiary, breakthrough 1976 live set One More From the Road -- all

  of which went Top 30 on the Billboard 200 chart. Ronnie Van Zant's poetry was launched skyward

  by the guitar artistry of Rossington and Allen Collins and, at different times, Ed King and Steve

  Gaines. One anthem after another hit rock radio stations and they continue to be played widely on a

  daily basis today.

  After four decades as the front man of the band, Johnny Van Zant remains honored to be representing

  not only his brother but the Skynyrd Nation as a whole. He shares, “Those guys were like my

  brothers, too. I used to hear 'em play at the house. I heard those songs being written. I was maybe too

  young to appreciate them at the time but I grew and grew and really understood that God gave

  (Ronnie) the gift to hit people in their heartstrings, and it's just lasted. It's been generational, and it

  amazes me every night to see people, parents and their kids and their grandkids, just singing these

  songs back to us."

  For Medlocke, who fronted the band Blackfoot for a great many years, rejoining Skynyrd brought

  him full circle back into the band he'd helped develop some of those 70s hits with. "He offered me a

  dollar-fifty and a Snickers bar," Medlocke says with a laugh.

  Skynyrd's second phase has certainly been a productive one -- 10 more studio albums, including

  Christmas Time Again in 2000, and Top 30 releases such as Vicious Cycle and Gods & Guns. There

  have been more hits, too, such as "Keeping the Faith," "Good Livin's Hard to Find" and a rendition of

  Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning," among others. In 2006 Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock

  and Roll Hall of Fame.

  The band’s most recent release, CELEBRATING 50 YEARS: LIVE AT THE RYMAN is filled with

  highlights that made a special night only more so. John Osborne of country's Osborne Brothers adds

  his guitar to "Working for MCA," while Jelly Roll duets with Van Zant on a moving "Tuesday's

  Gone." Third Van Zant brother Donnie comes on board for "Red White & Blue,” Shinedown's Brent

  Smith puts his touch on "Simple Man,

  " and Marcus King joined the band for “Saturday Night

  Special.” Johnny Van Zant shares, “I love seeing that this music has touched other artists like that.

  When you've got Metallica doing 'Tuesday's Gone' and (Creed's) Scott Stapp telling me, 'Man,

  Skynyrd got me through my darkest times,' it just makes me feel good that my brother and those guys

  touched so many people like that." The greatest pull quote of all time might be the simple thought

  shared by Jellyroll who offers, “In the South, there's Jesus Christ, and then there's Lynyrd Skynyrd,

  right there beside each other.”

  For the Van Zants and Medlocke, however, the night's highlight wasn't even on stage. "The four us --

  me, Donnie, Rickey and Gary -- were in this tiny dressing room, crammed in with our suitcases and

  stuff, just telling jokes and laughing and talking about the old days and eating cold pizza. That's a

  memory I wouldn't change for the world."

  In true Skynyrd fashion the road goes on -- if not forever, then certainly for the foreseeable future --

  and with considerable pride and great reverence, respect and rock 'n' roll hell-raising. As Ronnie Van

  Zant's widow Judy Van Zant Jenness says, "the Lynyrd Skynyrd family is unified in this decision to

  keep the Free Bird flying for as long as possible.”

  For more historical detail visit: https://www.lynyrdskynyrd.com/history