When you go to see Lynyrd Skynyrd, it’s a safe bet the night will end with a performance of their signature “Free Bird.”
“It’s been many years now, there’s never a Skynyrd show that doesn’t close with that song,” the band’s Johnny Van Zant confirms. “What else do you do after that?”
Good point.
The Southern Rock legends are gearing up for another summer of live music. This time, they’ll be sharing the stage with Foreigner for the Double Trouble Double Vision tour. And yes, “Free Bird” will be the last thing that fans hear each night. It’s something that makes those in attendance happy too.
So what is it that makes “Free Bird” such a special song for so many after all of these years? The singer offered his thoughts on that subject during an interview with UCR.
Watch Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Free Bird’ Music Video
Why People Love “Free Bird” So Much
It’s a song that you hear on the radio. Budweiser used it in a Super Bowl commercial earlier this year as they began to celebrate their 150th anniversary as a company (as well as the 250th anniversary of America). Of course, if you’re a band playing music in a theater or at the local bar, maybe you’ve heard fans call out for you to play it.
READ MORE: Watch the 2026 Super Bowl Commercials Featuring Classic Rock Songs
“Free Bird” is a piece of music that’s become a part of both the lives of music fans and also, pop culture as a whole.
“You know, there’s very few songs like that. You have [Led Zeppelin’s] ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ But the thing about it is the way that song started out,” Van Zant explains. “it’s one of the few love songs that Skynyrd has. There’s another one called ‘I Need You.’ But Ronnie [Van Zant, Johnny’s late brother and the founding original vocalist of the band] didn’t write a lot about love. He wrote about, you know, the working man and the working lady and and having a good time.”
“But it started out as a little love song and and didn’t have that fast ending on it. And the way that came about, Duane Allman passed. Ronnie was having some trouble with his throat one night,” Van Zant relates. “And this is what I’ve heard, he said, ‘Boys do something at the end.’ You know, [so he could] take a break — and it just kind of evolved from that.”
“It used to start out with the guitar and then later on, Billy Powell joined the band,. He could play the hell out of [some] honky tonk [music], but he was a classical pianist,” the frontman adds. “He started playing that beautiful riff at the beginning and they dedicated the song to the late, great Duane Allman. It just evolved from there.”
Show Skynyrd Your Best ‘Free Bird’ Moment
Lynyrd Skynyrd is giving people the chance to share their best #FreeBirdMoment on Instagram. Fans are invited to upload that moment that makes them feel free as a bird, from dirtbikes to guitar solos, bull rides, hot rods, whatever it is that lights the fuse. Winners will be chosen to score a two-person VIP concert experience this summer on the tour dates with Foreigner. They’ll get to meet the band, watch the show from backstage and other perks.
“My big ‘Free Bird’ moment was many, many years ago. Next year is my 40th year with the band,” Van Zant shares. “It’s amazing. [But] I did not sing ‘Free Bird’ [initially, when Lynyrd Skynyrd started doing shows again in 1987].”
“We were in Sacramento, California, and we had finished ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and [left] the stage,” he remembers. “And the fans are going ‘Free Bird,’ ‘Free Bird,’ you know? And I’m thinking that I’m done. But Gary [Rossington] came up to me and he said, ‘Man, I’m not going back out. And I said, ‘What?’ He goes, ‘I’m not going back out there without you.'”
“And I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ You know, this is all going on and they’re supposed to be on stage playing the song,” the singer explains. “And he said, ‘You know what, not unless you sing it tonight.'” And I said, ‘Nah, man.'”
“You know, that was a tough one for me to do. When I first started with the band, it was a really cool thing to me, I thought, how the crowd sang it [in honor of Ronnie Van Zant and the other late band members], But he said, ‘You know what? Your brother was a writer and a singer, and he wrote those words. He would want you to sing it. And from that point on, I’ve been singing it ever since.”
Watch Lynyrd Skynyrd Perform ‘Free Bird’
Lynyrd Skynyrd Albums Ranked
The reunited band has carried on the original lineup’s legacy, releasing almost twice as many LPs over the years.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
