Before his death in March 2023, Gary Rossington — the last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd — told his bandmates that he wanted the legendary Southern rock group to live on.
“He knew his health was getting bad,” Johnny Van Zant, the current lead singer of the group, tells Fox News Digital.
“And he told me, ‘I’ve spent my life carrying on this legacy, and after I’m gone, I don’t want to see this band go away.'”
That’s when they brought in Damon Johnson, a guitarist who’d previously been a member of Alice Cooper’s band and Thin Lizzy.
Johnson first started performing with Lynyrd Skynyrd in 2021, when Rossington was recovering from emergency heart surgery. But Van Zant says that he was being prepped to take Rossington’s place before he stepped up to join the group on a regular basis.
“Gary kind of mentored him, you know, some, and came to rehearsal,” Van Zant remembers.
“He wanted this music to go on, man,” he continues. “I don’t think me and Rickey [Medlocke] would be here if Gary said, ‘Hey, after I’m gone, I want this to go away.’ So we’re carrying out his wishes as long as we can.”
- Rossington joined Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins to form My Backyard in 1964. The group was a precursor to Lynyrd Skynyrd.
- He was among the survivors of the plane crash that killed much of the band in 1977, later leading the re-invented group into the 21st century.
- Johnny Van Zant — who took over for brother Ronnie in 1987 — is now the longest tenured member of the group.
Read More: Remember the Horrifying Plane Crash That Nearly Destroyed Lynyrd Skynyrd?
The group’s commitment to honoring Rossington’s legacy is also the reason they put out their live album, Celebrating 50 Years — Live at the Ryman last week. The live record features special appearances from Jelly Roll, Marcus King, the Brothers Osborne‘s John Osborne and Shinedown’s Brent Smith.
Read More: Watch Lynyrd Skynyrd Give Gary Rossington’s Guitar to an Emotional Jelly Roll
“This was never supposed to be a live release. It was done for PBS,” Van Zant explains. But that show turned out to be Rossington’s very last with the band.
“And after Gary passed, we were like, ‘You know what? We think all the fans need to have this in their collection,'” he continues, saying he thinks Rossington would be “very proud” of the album.
