Gary Rossington, a founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, is recovering from an emergency heart procedure.
“Gary is home resting and recovering with his family,” reads a message on the band’s Facebook page. “He wants everyone to know he is doing good and expects a full recovery.”
At a recent concert in Minnesota, singer Johnny Van Zant told fans Rossington “had to have an emergency stent put in his heart.”
The 69-year-old guitarist is the last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, which was formed in 1964. He suffered a heart attack in 2015 and underwent heart surgeries in 2016 and 2019.
“I’ve had heart attacks onstage a lot,” Rossington told the Tampa Bay Times in 2018.
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.
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Facebook message said Rossington’s absence will not impact its tour schedule.
“After this past year, the country being shut down and everything we have all been thru, The Rossington’s encouraged the band to go perform in his absence,” it said. “Music is a powerful healer! We all felt playing the shows and bringing the music to y’all was a better option than cancelling the performances."