Gary Rossington

Jacksonville, Florida, is where Rossington was born. His mother noted that he had a keen interest in baseball growing up and that he dreamed of playing for the New York Yankees. According to Rossington, he was a "decent ball player," but after hearing the Rolling Stones in his early teens, he developed a passion for music and eventually gave up on his baseball dreams.

In the summer of 1964, the formation of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd was influenced by Rossington's love of baseball. He met Bob Burns and Ronnie Van Zant while playing for competing baseball teams in Jacksonville, and the three of them agreed to get together to jam following Burns' injury caused by a ball Van Zant struck. They set up shop in the carport of Burns' parents' house as the Rolling Stones' "Time Is on My Side" was being played. They decided they liked it and would form a band as soon as they heard it. When guitarist Allen Collins and bassist Larry Junstrom joined the group, they decided to call themselves The Noble Five. Later, they changed the group's name to The One Percent before deciding on Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969. 

Rossington, who came from a single-parent family, claimed that early in their relationship, Van Zant took on the role of a father figure for him. He credited Van Zant, a bandmate three years older than him, with training him and his friends how to drive a car and introducing them to "all the stuff you study when you're 14, 15, 16".

Family Background of Gary Rossington 

Gary Rossington, our brother, friend, family member, songwriter, and guitarist, passed away today, Lynyrd Skynyrd announced in an official statement, "It is with our sincerest grief and sadness that we advise. As he usually does, Gary is currently in heaven with his Skynyrd brothers and family.

Rossington stated that he had made the decision to continue performing in 2016, despite his health issues.

You know, it's simply in my blood, he continued. I'm just an old guitar player; to learn how to play and do it, we put in 10,000 hours of practise over the course of our entire life. 

Hence, in my opinion, you should keep creating art until you've made a name for yourself. What happens after retirement? Even though I like fishing, the day is only so long, right?

There was no instant access to a complete list of survivors, but Mr. Rossington is said to have had two daughters from his previous marriage.

According to Mr. Rossington, Skynyrd was never thought of as a group that was plagued by tragedy and death, as reported by Rolling Stone. At the band's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, he said, "I don't think of it as tragedy - I think of it as life. The positive, in my opinion, exceeds the bad.

The band pleaded with supporters to remember Rossington's family in their prayers in a statement that read, "Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does".

He leaves behind two daughters as well as his wife, Dale Krantz. He was the only surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Rossington was born on Dec. 4, 1951, in Jacksonville, Florida; after his father passed away before he was born, he was raised by a single mother.

The three became friends over their shared passion for music and baseball in 1964 when Rossington first met drummer Bob Burns and bassist Larry Junstorm.

Bird Free

Southern states in America developed a frightening live reputation for the band thanks to their defiant blues-rock. The nine-minute epic Free Bird, which featured Rossington's trademark slide guitar playing, was featured on their debut album, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd.

The guitarist said, "We always claimed we had a lot of guts back then, or gumption, whatever you want to call it, for playing a song that long." in an interview with Guitar World.

Singles are limited to two, three, and five minutes in duration, accordingly. It took nine minutes for Free Bird. Nobody would ever perform the song, they claimed. Your group is insane."

Nonetheless, a cut of the song got to the top 20 in the US, and Skynyrd gained a devoted fan base after touring with The Who.

Rossington Collins Brand

After the catastrophe, the remaining members made the decision to stop. Rossington had to relearn how to play with steel rods in his arm after suffering a catastrophic injury.

Before Lynyrd Skynyrd reassembled in 1987 to mark the 10th anniversary of the accident, he started a new band called The Rossington Collins Band with a number of his former colleagues, with Johnny Van Zant on lead vocals.

The group persisted, publishing nine studio albums, changing lineups about 25 times, and being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

They also performed on stage at the 2016 Republican National Convention, where Donald Trump was selected as the party's nominee for president.

Gary Rossington Health Issues

Up until July 2021, Rossington intermittently performed for the group before taking a break to recover from a procedure. The musician had numerous health concerns during his life, including a heart attack in 2015 and a quintuple heart bypass operation in 2003. After the heart attack, he underwent a number of procedures.

Garry Rossington Death

Gary Rossington, the last surviving founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd and their guitarist, died suddenly at the age of 71.

Rossington passed away on Sunday, almost four months before the group was scheduled to start their upcoming tour. The reason for his death was not made clear.

The musician had long-standing health problems, which included a heart attack in 2015 and urgent heart surgery in 2021.