Lynyrd Skynyrd founding member and guitarist Gary Rossington died Sunday, the band announced. He 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,” read a message on Facebook. A cause of death was not disclosed.
“Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does.”
Rossington was the last surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Ronnie Van Zant died in a plane crash in 1977; Allen Collins died in 1990 of pneumonia, a complication from paralysis he suffered in a car crash four years earlier; Bob Burns died in a car crash in 2015; and Larry Junstrom died in 2019.
Rossington had several close calls. He survived a car crash in 1976 as well as the plane crash that killed Van Zant a year later. In 2003, Rossington had quintuple heart bypass surgery and, in 2021, he underwent emergency surgery after suffering a heart attack.
"Gary was not only a friend, but a collaborator that wrote songs with me and played guitar with me in studio recordings and onstage so many times," tweeted country star Travis Tritt.
Lynyrd Skynyrd came together in 1964 and became known for tracks like “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird.” The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
The musician is survived by wife of four decades, Dale Krantz, and their two daughters.