Lynyrd Skynyrd was and seemingly always will be the band most synonymous with southern rock. Thanks to their hit songs “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Free Bird,” “Simple Man,” and “Tuesday’s Gone,” the southern rock group garnered and continues to garner loads of success. However, their success wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, as their star-studded days entailed a lot of violence, conflict, and substance abuse. So much so that the group’s lead guitarist, Ed King, decided to leave the band after a bad night with Ronnie Van Zant.
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Ed King is mostly known for being the lead guitarist of Lynyrd Skynyrd and for being the co-writer of the group’s biggest hit, “Sweet Home Alabama.” Following his departure from the group in 1975, King actually went on to rejoin the group in 1987. However, upon his original departure, King believed it was the best decision he possibly could have made at that time. In retrospect, he seemingly has no regrets about his decision.
Ed King’s Departure Came After a Treacherous Night With Ronnie Van Zant
Following his departure from Lynyrd Skynyrd, King divulged that it was Van Zant’s drinking that drove him to quit. Specifically, King recalled, “Well, I was out of my mind for quitting. But it was the best thing I ever did.” “Ronnie was drinking a lot. It was just an unpleasant situation. I never drank, but I was into drugs pretty good. I had gotten fed up with frankly all the violence,” added King per Classic Bands.
Concerning the exact moment of his departure, King stated, “It just got a little too nutty for me. So, in the middle of the night, I just walked out. It had been a bad night the night before. I had good reason to leave” and “I should never have done it the way I did it.”
King rejoined the group in 1987 for their reunion tour, and surprisingly, he said the decision wasn’t nearly as difficult as one would expect. Pertaining to the matter, King divulged, “It wasn’t that hard of a decision. It was something I felt I had to do to kind of make it right.” King did make it right and would go on to leave the original Lynyrd Skynyrd for good in 1996 due to congestive heart failure.
King’s decision might have seemed crazy, though, at the end of the day, he was confident in his decision, and you have to respect him for that.
Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
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