He was the last original founding member of the well-known rockers from the southern states: The songwriter and guitarist Gary Rossington died at the age of 71. The band Lynyrd Skynyrd made history with songs like "Free Bird" and the song he inspired "Sweet Home Alabama".
Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist and songwriter Gary Rossington has died at the age of 71. The band announced this on their Facebook page. He was the last surviving founding member of the southern rock band. He formed the band in his teens in 1964 with friends Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Larry Junstrom and Bob Burns.
"It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to announce that today we have lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist Gary Rossington," the band's statement said. "Gary is in heaven now with his Skynyrd brothers and family playing quite well there as he always does," the statement continued.
There is no information yet on Rossington's cause of death, but the musician was struggling with a number of heart problems. In 2015 he suffered a heart attack and only had to undergo emergency heart surgery in 2021 while he was on the "Big Wheels Keep on Turnin" tour with the band.
Rossington cheated death in the '70s by surviving a plane crash in 1977 that killed band members Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, along with backup singer Cassie Gaines, Steve Gaines' sister and a road manager, just three days after the release of their fifth studio album "Street Survivors". The plane crashed in a wooded area in Amite County near Gillsburg, Mississippi, where the airfield was only a few hundred yards away.
South rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd from Jacksonville, Florida embarked on a tour of the South in the late '60s. The members first appeared under different names until the name was set in 1969. Their debut single flopped, and it wasn't until 1973 that they had a hit with "Free Bird." Their appearances as the opening act for "The Who" also helped them to become popular. One of the greatest songs in their band's history is undoubtedly "Sweet Home Alabama" (1974). The song idea came from Gary Rossington. But titles like "Simple Man" (1973), "Tuesdays Gone" (1973) or "Whats your name" (1977) are also among the band's well-known hits. Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. The line-up of the band has changed over the years.
