Slash, Billy Gibbons, Cody Johnson, Wynonna, more to honor Lynyrd Skynyrd's legacy at 2023 CMT Music Awards

The recent passing of guitarist Gary Rossington, the final original founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd -- 50 years after the launch of the band's debut album -- is one of the most significant musical lowlights in recent memory.

2023's CMT Music Awards -- not just because the network released the documentary "If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd" in 2016 -- is as ideal a place as any to honor the countrified rock act's impressive legacy.

A lineup of Cody Johnson and Paul Rodgers on lead vocals, Billy Gibbons, Slash and Warren Haynes on electric guitar, veteran Nashville studio and touring musicians Ethan Pilzer and Rich Redmond on bass and drums, plus Wynonna Judd and LeAnn Rimes as the background singing Honkettes round out the star-studded lineup.

Dale Krantz Rossington, band member and wife of late guitarist Gary Rossington, is set to attend the awards alongside fellow current Lynyrd Skynyrd band members Johnny Van Zant and Rickey Medlock.

The band was nominated for their 2016 "CMT Crossroads," pairing with Brantley Gilbert in the "Performance of the Year" category.

Regarding Skynyrd's legacy, alongside Rossington's passing on March 5, 2023, a plane crash in 1977 killed band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and his sister, singer Cassie Gaines. This halted the band for a decade. However, since reuniting in Sept. 1987, the band lost other original members, Allen Collins, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson and Hughie Thomasson.

Lainey Wilson leads the field for April 2's 2023 CMT Music Awards with four nominations: "Video of the Year," "Female Video of the Year," "Collaborative Video of the Year" and "CMT Performance of the Year" for April 2's fan-voted CMT Music Awards, The event, hosted by 2023 nominees Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini and broadcast live from Austin, Texas' Moody Center is on CBS and available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+ from 8:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT.

For more information on the 2023 CMT Music Awards, visit https://www.cmt.com/cmt-music-awards.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Slash, Billy Gibbons, Cody Johnson, Wynonna, more to honor Lynyrd Skynyrd's legacy at 2023 CMT Music Awards