Since the mid-1960s, Lynyrd Skynyrd performed in countless venues, sharing songs like “Sweet Home Alabama” and the iconic “Free Bird.” Throughout their time in the spotlight, the band not only sold over 28 million albums in the United States alone, they were listed on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. They eventually received an induction into the Rock and Roll of Fame as well. Sadly, nearly a year ago, Gary Rossington passed away. And while it is difficult for the band to continue without him, Rickey Medlocke recently hinted at new music from the legendary band.
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Speaking with UCR, Medlocke discussed the potential around a new album coming from Lynyrd Skynyrd. For those wondering, the last time the band released a new album happened back in 2012 with Last of a Dyin’ Breed. With it being 12 years since its release, Medlocke revealed, “We’re talking about doing a Skynyrd record. Johnny [Van Zant] and I have been on the phone the last couple of days, and we have found music that, along with Gary [Rossington] and maybe some other people, we wrote over the past 12, 15 years, maybe even earlier than that. So maybe we’ll invite different people on the record to come in and play and lend their services to us, kind of like an all-star Skynyrd record. We’ll see what happens.”
Rickey Medlocke Never Wants To Stop
While new music from the Lynyrd Skynyrd excited fans, it will mark the first album without co-founder Rossington with them. Having performed with Rossington over the years, Medlocke admitted the loss is a “raw spot.” “We’re coming up on the one-year anniversary, and I still haven’t settled with it yet. We do a tribute every night to Gary, to the song ‘Tuesday’s Gone’, and I can’t even look at the video.”
Although 73 years old, Medlocke has no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Proving just how much music and touring are part of his life, the musician insisted, “I used to complain at the end of a [Skynyrd] tour, ‘Oh, gosh, I don’t want to go home. I never want to go home.’ I had a wild thought one time of getting my own bus and just staying out [Laughs].”
Always thankful to the fans who supported him and the band, Medlocke promised, “I just want to still make music. I want to play music.” He continued, “I want to record music. I want to make music the rest of my life, however much longer I’ve got here, which I hope is a very long time. At some point I’m sure Johnny and I are gonna look at each other and say, ‘OK, maybe the time has come’ but who knows — we might reach 80 years old and it still won’t come to that. We’ll see.”
(Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
