![]() Soon, the trio was joined by guitarist Allen Collins and bassist Larry Junstrom, and the crew performed under a handful of names before landing on Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in the summer of 1964 when teenaged Rossington, Van Zant and Bob Burns met while competing on rival baseball teams, the band’s website says. Rossington was among the Lynyrd Skynyrd band members inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and contributed to many of the group’s most iconic songs, including “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird.” Rossington survived a 1977 plane crash that killed band members Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, as well as backup singer Cassie Gaines, Steve Gaines’ sister, and a road manager, just three days after the release of their fifth studio album, “Street Survivors,” according to the band’s website. Reports indicated he suffered massive internal injuries, as well as a smashed jaw. ![]() According to Rolling Stone, Wilkeson was among the most severely injured in the Skynyrd plane crash. The guitarist’s death fallsjust five months before Lynyrd Skynyrd is set to begin its The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour alongside ZZ Top on July 21. A medical examiner subsequently ruled that Wilkeson suffered from chronic lung and liver disease and died of natural causes at the age of 49, per Billboard. The guitarist had battled a number of heart problems, including an emergency heart surgery in 2021 during the band’s Big Wheels Keep on Turnin’ Tour. Please keep Dale, Mary, Annie and the entire Rossington family in your prayers and respect the family’s privacy at this difficult time,” the statement continued. Remembering the tragic plane crash:What might have. “Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does. Gary Rossington, the last founding member of Jacksonville rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died Sunday at age 71. Among the fatalities were several members of the Jacksonville, Florida, southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. “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,” their statement said. Exactly 45 years ago today, on October 20, 1977, a chartered twin-engine Convair CV-240 crashed in a wooded area close to Gillsburg, Mississippi, killing six of the 24 passengers and crew. Guitarist Gary Rossington, the last surviving founding member of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, has died, the band announced on their official Facebook page Sunday evening.
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