Gary Rossington, late founder of Lynyrd Skynyrd, dies aged 71
A social media statement announced the death of the guitarist, who was a founding member of the iconic band.
Guitarist Gary Rossington, the last living member of the original line-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd, has passed away at the age of 71.
The iconic rock band announced the news in a statement posted onto the group’s Facebook page: “Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and his family in heaven and playing well, as he always did.”
“It is with our deepest sadness that we have to report that today we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington,” the band added on Twitter, asking for prayers and privacy for the family during a difficult time.
No cause of death yet announced for Gary Rossiter
The death of the last surviving member of Lynyrd Skynyrd has taken the world of rock music by surprise, given how recently Rossiter was performing live as part of the band. Rossiter passed away on Sunday, just four months before he was due to go on tour with the iconic band once again, nearly 60 years since he first formed the original band with bassist Larry Junstrom and drummer Bob Burns.
No cause of death has been announced for Rossiter so far, but the 71-year-old was known to have suffered health issues in recent years. He suffered a heart attack in 2015 and in 2021 the artist had to undergo emergency heart surgery.
“It’s just in my blood, y’know?” he said in 2016, in response to questions about his health. “I’m just an old guitar player, and we’ve spent our whole lives and the 10,000 hours of working to understand how to play and do it. So I think once you’ve got something going for yourself, you should keep it up and keep your craft going.”
“When you retire, what’s next? I like to fish, but how much of that can you do, right?”
Rossington survived tragic Lynyrd Skynyrd airplane crash
Born in Florida in 1951, Rossington was one of the founding members of Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1964 when he met vocalist Ronnie Van Zant at a baseball game. Gary was a member of a group called You, Me and Him along with Bob Burns and Larry Junstrom and the three of them decided to form a new band. After initial rehearsals, guitarist Allen Collins would join to complete the first formation.
At the time the group were still teenagers and they took the name for the band from a Professor Leonard Skinner, a widely disliked teacher from the local school. At sixteen Rossington, along with Burns and Collins, dropped out of school to focus on music.
That decision was followed by a period of huge success, which continued until the mid-1970s, when a variety of misfortunes beset the band. Rossington himself suffered several accidents in the 1970s, including a car accident in 1976, but the worst came in 1977 with the tragic plane crash that killed three members of the group. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines all passed away, causing the group to break up. They would not reunite until 1987 with new members, including Van Zant’s brother Johnny, also on vocals.
Rossington was the last surviving founding member and continued to perform with Lynyrd Skynyrd, even planning a tour for the upcoming July.