Lynyrd Skynyrd founding member, guitarist Gary Rossington dies at 71

Gary Rossington, who shaped Southern rock with his soaring slide guitar solos, iconic songs and hard-partying lifestyle, died Sunday.

Rossington was the last surviving founder of Jacksonville rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, which formed in the mid-1960s. He co-wrote many of the band's best-known songs, survived a plane crash that killed two bandmates and inspired one of Lynyrd Skynyrd's biggest songs by smashing into an oak tree. That's his slide guitar you hear floating above the chaos at the end of "Free Bird."

The band announced the death Sunday evening on its Facebook page. Rossington was 71.

"It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today," the post reads. "Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does."

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Rossington, who grew up off Cassat Avenue on Jacksonville's Westside, was a founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame act. According to Skynyrd legend, the band started in the mid-1960s when singer Ronnie Van Zant met drummer Bob Burns on a Jacksonville baseball field. They recruited bass player Larry Junstrom and guitarists Rossington and Allen Collins to start the band, which went by various monikers in the 1960s — My Backyard, the Noble Five, Conqueror Worm, the Pretty Ones, Sons of Satan, the One Percent — before finally being named for Leonard Skinner, a gym teacher at what was then Lee High School who hassled Rossington, Burns and Van Zant about their long hair.

Lynyrd Skynyrd became one of the biggest names in Southern rock, selling more than 28 million records, and was riding high in 1977 on its newly released "Street Survivors" album when a plane carrying band members crashed in the Mississippi woods, killing Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, singer Cassie Gaines, the band's road manager and the plane's two pilots. Survivors formed the Rossington Collins Band, which had several hits before Lynyrd Skynyrd came back together in 1987 for a tribute tour with Johnny Van Zant as the lead singer.

Rossington wrote or co-wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including "Sweet Home Alabama," "What's Your Name" and "Down South Jukin'" and "Simple Man." He was also reportedly the inspiration for the opening "whiskey bottles, brand new cars, oak tree, you're in my way" line from the band's 1977 hit "That Smell" when he hit a tree on the Westside with his new car.

Lynyrd Skynyrd has played dozens of shows in the Jacksonville area, most recently in 2018 when the band headlined a show at TIAA Bank Field that was later released as a live album and DVD, "Lynyrd Skynyrd: Last of the Street Survivors Tour."

Rossington had a long history of heart issues, including quintuple bypass surgery in 2003, a serious heart attack in 2015, the implantation of a pacemaker, a heart valve replacement in 2019 and, most recently, emergency heart surgery in June 2021. Though he hasn't toured with the band in recent years, he came out to play "Free Bird" last October at a show in Atlanta.

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In a 2016 interview, Rossington said he was looking forward to slowing down from Skynyrd's hectic touring pace.

"I'm feeling real good and trying to take care of myself and living healthy," he said at the time. "As good as I can feel. With life and grandkids and the whole thing, every day is busy, but I'm so thankful to God that I'm still here."

The band has been on the road since, although Rossington stopped touring after heart surgery in 2019. The band is scheduled to return to the stage March 12 at the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City. It's one of 35 shows on the band's touring schedule, including a co-headlining tour with ZZ Top. Lynyrd Skynyrd's current lineup is Van Zant on vocals, Rickey Medlocke, Mark Matejka and Damon Johnson on guitar, Keith Christopher on bass, Peter Keys on keyboards and Michael Cartellone on drums. Rossington's wife, Dale Krantz Rossington, was a backup singer with the band for years but left at the same time as her husband.

In addition to his work with Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Rossington Collins Band, he also released several albums with his wife under the name Rossington. Artists who recorded his songs include the Charlie Daniels Band, Garth Brooks, Hank Williams Jr., Kid Rock, Metallica and Nirvana.

Online tributes praised Rossington's guitar work and his influence.

“Their unique blend of influences filtered through their own musical personalities created a style of music all to itself which became the soundtrack to millions of people’s lives," former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Warren Haynes posted on Facebook. "Gary was leading the charge.”

“Rossington provided the rhythm and smoother, soaring slide guitar sounds of the band’s powerful three-guitar lineup. His iconic solo on ‘Free Bird’ is one of rock & roll’s most recognizable – and pervades popular culture,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame posted on its Facebook page.

"I'll be sitting on my porch playing Skynyrd tunes all day and I'm sure I ain't the only one," wrote musician Trey Hensley.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Gary Rossington, founder of Jacksonville's Lynyrd Skynyrd, dead at 71