Lynyrd Skynyrd Founding Member Gary Rossington Dead At 71

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s last surviving founding member and guitarist, Gary Rossington, passed away on Sunday at 71. In this case, the cause of death was not disclosed.

“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. As usual, Gary is putting on a good show in heaven with the rest of his family and Skynyrd bandmates. Prayers and privacy requests for Dale, Mary, Annie, and the Rossington family are appreciated during this time.

According to Rolling Stone, Rossington had multiple near-death experiences. He inspired the band’s cautionary song “That Smell,” written after he survived a car accident in which he crashed his Ford Torino into a tree in 1976. A year later, he was found alive after being trapped in the plane wreckage that had crashed the year before, killing singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backup vocalist Cassie Gaines.

Saying, “It was a devastating thing,” he spoke to Rolling Stone in 2006. “It’s not something you can talk about completely detachedly, without expressing any emotions.”

Rossington left Lynyrd Skynyrd in July 2021 to recover from yet another heart surgery

Rossington left Lynyrd Skynyrd in July 2021 to recover from yet another heart surgery; he had previously undergone quintuple bypass surgery in 2003, a heart attack in 2015, and numerous subsequent heart surgeries. Recently, Rossington has only appeared for short stretches during concerts and has missed entire shows on occasion.

After his father’s death, Rossington’s mother took care of him, and he was born on December 4, 1951, in Jacksonville, Florida. Rossington and his new pals, drummer Bob Burns and bassist Larry Junstrom, tried to juggle their love of baseball with their newfound musical endeavor.

Rolling Stone claims that Ronnie Van Zant met his future bandmates in lynyrd when he hit a line drive into Bob Burns’ shoulder blades during a Little League game. That afternoon, Rossington, Burns, Van Zant, and guitarist Allen Collins got together at Burns’ Jacksonville house to jam out to “Time Is on My Side” by the Rolling Stones.

A combination of Rossington’s high school sports coach and a character from the 1963 novelty hit “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” inspired the band’s name, Lynyrd Skynyrd, which they used for their self-titled debut album in 1973 (Pronounced ‘Lh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd). Album classics like “Tuesday’s Gone,” “Simple Man,” and “Gimme Three Steps” were included, but it was the album’s closer, Rossington’s nearly 10-minute “Free Bird,” that became the band’s calling card.

Despite all the tragedy and deaths, Rossington told Rolling Stone that Skynyrd was never a tragic band. “I don’t think of it as a tragedy — I think of it as life,” he said at the band’s 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. It seems to me that the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

SOURCE – (AP)