Johnny Van Zant had to do it. He had to stop “Free Bird.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Despite the song being a showcase for legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington, who had overcome ill health just to be at the show, Van Zant called the song to a halt when he realized that something was amiss with Rossington’s axe. All this in the middle of a 50th anniversary celebration concert held by Skynyrd at the hallowed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
“Gary had this thing, it almost looked like a coffee stirrer, and he always put it between his strings and it gave him the slide part on ‘Free Bird’,” Van Zant explains with a laugh to American Songwriter. “Well, for some reason, that wasn’t in there, and he was out of tune. And we went into it, and it was supposed to be his slide part. And I went, ‘Nope, that ain’t happening, let’s stop.’”
Knowing that the show was being filmed and recorded as part of a planned release, Van Zant felt he had no other choice. And it turned out to be the right one. “The crowd loved it,” he says about the false start. “I’m so glad that I did that, because I don’t know if we would have put this out without that song being right. That’s such a dominant part of ‘Free Bird,’ Gary’s part. He went off to the side of the stage. And then when he came back out, he was like the hero of the night. The crowd went crazy, and we started over.”
You won’t hear the fumbled version of the all-time classic on the new Lynyrd Skynyrd: Celebrating 50 Years, Recorded Live At The Ryman record release, or see it on the DVD. What you will experience is a band, 50 years into its career, having sustained through all kinds of hardship and tragedy, doing justice to the songs created all those years ago by men who are no longer around to do it themselves.
Johnny Van Zant can’t quite believe his fortune in getting to be a part of it all. The singer joined the band in 1987 when Lynyrd Skynyrd decided to reunite for the first time following the 1977 plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zant, Johnny’s brother, and the band’s original lead singer, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines. He described the phenomenon he witnessed during a recent concert:
“There’s like four generations of fans out here. And I got the best seat in the house. We never usually do this, but when we got to the chorus of ‘Simple Man,’ I just stuck the mic out, and I said, ‘You sing it!’ And there were 40,000 people singing ‘Simple Man.’ What a religious experience. That’s the only way I can describe it. The hair stood up on my arms and the back of my neck. After all these years, look at how these people responded to the music that Ronnie and Allen (Collins) and Gary created.”
Johnny Joins
Now that the rejuvenated version of Lynyrd Skynyrd has been an active recording and touring concern for nearly four decades, it’s difficult to imagine that Johnny Van Zant once hesitated taking over as lead singer in place of his brother.
“I had a lot of reservations about it,” he says. “I talked to my mom and my dad, my brother Donnie, and my sisters. People don’t realize that I was a fan of this band before I was offered to be a part of it. And I never wanted to hurt the legacy of what Ronnie and the other guys had created. I walked into the room with those guys who survived that awful day in ’77 and looked at them. I was thinking about how Ronnie was the alpha dog; he was the daddy. Those guys were all so young. They were in their early 20s at that time. This is what they did, this is what they loved. And they asked me to be a part of it.”
Van Zant now laughs about his initial trepidations. “I’m so grateful that I did it,” he says. “But I’ll be honest; for the first couple of years, I was a little leery. Because Skynyrd fans, they’re pretty opinionated. Some of them can throw a fist or two.”
He also spoke about how the band nearly crumbled again after that first reunion tour. Once they decided to start writing songs together and creating new material, Lynyrd Skynyrd once again found its footing. But Van Zant says the band understood that there was no replacing what had already been done.
“We never went to it saying we need a ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ or a ‘Free Bird,’ because that was already done,” he says. “That was a magical time. We never (asked), ‘can we write songs as good as the original band?’ We just wanted to write songs, play, and bring in some new material. Luckily, a lot of the newer fans liked it. But I got into this to carry on those great songs that they wrote many, many years ago.”
Ryman Rocking
The Ryman performance in 2022 came about at a time when the band had been stagnant for a couple of years, largely due to the pandemic. By that time, Skynyrd was mostly made up of players who had joined in more recent years to replace departed members. Rickey Medlocke, who was a drummer with the earliest incarnation of the band, eventually rejoined and plays guitar. But aside from that, it’s mostly a new nucleus, one that understands what the legacy means.
“The thing about Skynyrd is when people passed on, we always brought people in who loved the music, cared about it,” Van Zant says. “If you’re gonna be in this band, no matter if you’re sick all day in a hotel room, when you get on stage, you better be right.”
The one original member who still had a chance to play that night was Gary Rossington, whose searing guitar defined all the band’s early hits. Rossington was battling ill health at the time, which made his participation questionable right up until showtime.
“Gary was very humble,” Van Zant says. “All he wanted to do was play his guitar. Great father, great husband, believed in Jesus, and played that guitar. He called me up and said, ‘Bubba, I may have to sit down. I’m real weak.’ I said, ‘Gary, you sit down, we all sit down. No big deal.’ He came that night, and we had so much fun, laughing, carrying on, and being goofy like we always do. And he stood the whole time and played that set like the champion that he was.”
Many guests joined the band on stage that night, including Marcus King, Brent Smith of Shinedown, and Jelly Roll, who brought his signature vocals to a stirring version of “Tuesday’s Gone.” Johnny and Ronnie’s brother, Donnie Van Zant, a longtime member of .38 Special, also appeared. Donnie was there for what Johnny believed was the most memorable part of the evening, at least from his perspective.
“The performance was special, don’t get me wrong,” Van Zant says. “But the most special thing about that night was us hanging out. In the Ryman, they have dressing rooms, but they’re kinda small. Myself, Rickey Medlocke, my brother Donny, and Gary were all in one dressing room. And we all had luggage. We were stepping across each other’s luggage. They brought in some cold pizza. And we just sat there reminiscing. We did a lot of reminiscing that night.”
Van Zant is thrilled that the band can now share, through the CD and DVD release, that evening with those who couldn’t be there. “It was just magical,” he says. “Some nights, you go on stage and there’s pressure to impress. But there wasn’t any weight on our shoulders. To me, it was a Godly thing, to be honest.”
Carrying On
Gary Rossington passed away in December 2023 at age 71, meaning that the Ryman show was his last. Meanwhile, the latest version of Lynyrd Skynyrd, currently touring Europe this summer, shows no signs that they’re disembarking from their rock and roll journey any time soon, in part because their last surviving founding member wanted it that way.
“Gary was the last of the three guys who started Lynyrd Skynyrd, which was Ronnie, Allen, and Gary,” Van Zant explains. “He wanted the music to carry on. He told me before he passed, ‘I’ve spent my whole life carrying this music on and playing it. I don’t want it to go away after I’m gone.’”
That said, Johnny Van Zant is under no illusion that Lynyrd Skynyrd can go on touring forever. But that won’t stop the music from making its impact. “Gary used to always say it, ‘This music’s bigger than any of us.’ I do believe that when we stop touring and bringing it to our fans, people will still be listening to this music.”
“That’s the beauty of music and recording it. That footprint that you leave is gonna be forever. And I guarantee you, 20, 30 years from now, some kid is gonna skip school, like we all did, and they’ll be rehearsing songs. And this kid on the guitar might not be that good. But he’s going to learn how to play the beginning of ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’”
As for why this band, formed in Jacksonville, Florida, more than five decades ago, still continues to fascinate, Van Zant can’t help but get a little sentimental.
“I think everybody loves an underdog,” he says. “Let’s be very honest; From the very beginning, none of the band were scholars. Most of them got in trouble. But they sure created great music that common, hard-working people related to. It never ceases to amaze me, young fans coming up to me. It warms my heart to see them loving what the guys created. I know my brother is here spiritually, and I often wonder what he would think.”
Van Zant pauses, and you can hear the smile come into his voice as he imagines his late brother’s reaction. “But I know what he would say: ‘I knew we had it.’”
Photos courtesy Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd 2025 Tour Dates:
August 1 — The Mountain Winery — Saratoga, CA
August 2 — Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort — Las Vegas, NV
August 3 — Yaamava’ Resort and Casino — Highland, CA
August 8 — Centennial Park West — Orland Park, IL
August 9 — Wisconsin State Fair 2025 — West Allis, WI
August 11 — Iowa State Fair Grandstand — Des Moines, IA
August 14 — BECU Live at Northern Quest — Airway Heights, WA
August 15 — Albertsons Boise Open — Boise, ID
August 17 — PNE Fair 2025 — Vancouver, Canada
August 28 — New York State Fair 2025 — Syracuse, NY
August 29 — Mohegan Sun Arena — Uncasville, CT
August 30 — Tanglewood Music Center — Lenox, MA
August 31 — The HALL at Live! — Hanover, MD
September 1 — Canfield Fairgrounds — Canfield, OH
September 10 — Scotiabank Saddledome — Calgary, Canada
September 11 — Rogers Place — Edmonton, Canada
September 12 — Sasktel Centre — Saskatoon, Canada
September 13 — Canada Life Centre — Winnipeg, Canada
September 18 — Tribute Communities Centre — Oshawa, Canada
September 19 — Fallsview Casino Resort — Niagara Falls, Canada
September 20 — Place Bell — Laval, Canada
September 22 — Avenir Centre — Moncton, Canada
September 23 — Scotiabank Centre — Halifax, Canada
September 25 — Mary Brown’s Centre — St. John’s, Canada
October 3 — Carolina Crossroads Amphitheatre — Roanoke Rapids, NC
October 4 — Field & Stream Festival 2025 — Winnsboro, SC
November 21 — Choctaw Grand Theater — Durant, OK
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.