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Before his death<\/a> in March 2023, Gary Rossington \u2014 the last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 told his bandmates that he wanted the legendary Southern rock group to live on.<\/p>\n “He knew his health was getting bad,” Johnny Van Zant, the current lead singer of the group, tells\u00a0Fox News Digital<\/a>.<\/p>\n “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.'”<\/p>\n That’s when they brought in Damon Johnson, a guitarist who’d previously been a member of Alice Cooper’s band and Thin Lizzy.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “Gary kind of mentored him, you know, some, and came to rehearsal,” Van Zant remembers.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n Read More<\/em>: Remember the Horrifying Plane Crash That Nearly Destroyed Lynyrd Skynyrd?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The group’s commitment to honoring Rossington’s legacy is also the reason they put out their live album,\u00a0Celebrating 50 Years \u2014 Live at the<\/em> Ryman<\/em> last week. The live record features special appearances from Jelly Roll<\/a>, Marcus King<\/a>, the Brothers Osborne<\/a>‘s John Osborne and Shinedown’s Brent Smith.<\/p>\n\n