The Tragic Death of a Skynyrd Member: Marking the End of an Era for Southern Rock

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Gary Rossington, a guitarist for the popular band Lynyrd Skynyrd, passed away this Sunday. Back in the day when he was alive, rock ‘n’ roll was just as popular and influential as today’s TikToks and Marvel movies.

The last remaining member of a super popular band had been known for making rebellious music that was linked to conservative politics and symbols from the South. Unfortunately he has now passed away at 71. This was kind of like the last important part of Southern Rock Music from America.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, a music critic who works for AllMusic, Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, said that the band Lynyrd Skynyrd was important in styling Southern rock music. They sang songs about life in the South while playing a special type of blues rock with strong guitar sounds. Their most famous song “Free Bird” is full of powerful guitar solos.

The Lynyrd Skynyrd of today is very different compared to the band nearly 50 years ago. Back then, the group was made up of musicians with long hair and they were part of a movement that wasn’t supported by people who liked President Nixon.

Back in the day, the band showed their rebellious personality by using the Confederate flag. They didn’t think it meant supporting slavery but just being a rebel. However, over recent years, their music and fans have started to take on a different political meaning.

Some of the members of this band are very open about their political views. Last year, their lead singer Johnny wrote a song with his brother Donnie that praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who might become president in 2024. Southern rock (the type of music this band plays) became associated with conservative values and old-fashioned ideas.

Lynyrd Skynyrd released their first album in 1973. They had a really strong connection when making music and were much tougher than groups usually called ‘Southern Rock’, like The Allman Brothers Band and The Marshall Tucker Band. With three guitar players, their sound was heavy and powerful – like a train with solos shooting through it!

According to Alan Paul, a music journalist and author of the upcoming book “Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the ’70s”, Southern Rock is hard to define as it takes influence from a variety of genres. He suggested that it could be described as bands which make rock music with a distinctively Southern sound.

The Allman Brothers Band were from Georgia, and they didn’t like the label “Southern rock”. However, Lynyrd Skynyrd from Florida felt okay with the label and their music even made some people feel uncomfortable.

Their most famous song “Sweet Home Alabama” was inspired by Neil Young’s songs called “Alabama” and “Southern Man”, which criticized slavery in the South. This song also mentions Neil Young but not directly reference George Wallace who used to be the Governor of Alabama and held strong beliefs about segregation.

According to the band’s first singer and songwriter, Ronnie Van Zant, they put “boo-boos” in one of their songs which was a way of saying that they didn’t like the segregationist George Wallace. Guitarist Allen Rossington backed up this idea by agreeing in an interview for a documentary movie.

Paul doesn’t really believe that people mostly have the same opinion as Alan Walden’s memoir which said Ronnie Van Zant was a Wallace fan. Erlewine also points out that Ronnie expressed his thoughts about handguns in his 1975 song called “Saturday Night Special”.

Erlewine said that Skynyrd’s first form had some conservative thoughts, but they weren’t just made out of typical conservative ideas.

In 1977, a plane crash killed the guitarist and backing vocalist of the popular band Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines. The crash also injured another member, Rossington. Ten years later, the band reunited but with Johnny Van Zant taking on his older brother’s role. Rossington was part of this new formation and continued to remain even as members changed from time to time. This reformed version of the band seemed to take on a more conservative image according to Erlewine and Paul.

In the nineties, people who liked Lynyrd Skynyrd also listened to Hank Williams Jr. and Charlie Daniels. These artists used rock and progressive music from the seventies as part of their sound, making it something like Southern music. Even though Lynyrd Skynyrd isn’t a country band, they have fans interested in both genres and that’s how their audience overlaps.

He said this: “Some pictures, sounds and ideas are really popular right now. It’s easier to keep doing those things because people like them.”

The popular band Lynyrd Skynyrd has been using the Confederate flag for a long time during their live performances. In 2012, Rossington said that they no longer wanted to use it because of its association with bad groups, but then he changed his mind and said that they would continue to use it alongside the American flag and the Alabama state flag.

Modern musicians that keep the spirit of music from the 1970s alive, like Jason Isbell and bands like Tedeschi Trucks Band & Drive-By Truckers, are usually progressive in their thinking. A famous album created by the Truckers called “Southern Rock Opera” contains many different topics while helping people to learn more about the South and its culture, along with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s significance and Wallace’s legacy.

When I was young, my favorite band was Skynyrd. But after they crashed in an airplane accident, I didn’t like the sound of other Southern rock bands anymore. To rediscover a love for their music, I bought an old vinyl record called “One More for the Road”, which made me enjoy their songs again.

Lynyrd Skynyrd was a band that changed a lot over 50 years. They started out as rebel rockers, but ended up aligning with the conservative culture. Gary Rossington’s guitar kept them true to their roots. Music critic Stephen Erlewine said, “There aren’t too many of these kinds of rockers left anymore.”

Paul added that Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the most popular bands during the 1970s. He explained that during this time, rock and roll was a really big thing in terms of its impact on culture – something that he argued hasn’t been seen since and isn’t seen today.