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Lynyrd Skynyrd’s music will continue to be a live attraction following the March death of the band’s last original member Gary Rossington. The remaining members of Lynyrd Skynyrd and family estates released a statement on Monday announcing the group’s plans to continue as a touring outfit, including a summer trek with Zz Top this year.

Rossington’s widow and longtime Skynyrd backing singer Dale Rossington offered a statement on coming to grips with his loss and his considerable body of work with the band.

“It’s been...

Guitarist Peter Frampton made a rare appearance onstage at the CMT Music Awards on Sunday. Frampton stopped performing in 2022 amid a rare muscle disease diagnosis.

Frampton walked out onstage with a cane and told the crowd, “I am here tonight to honour a friend and tour mate of mine, Gary Rossington, who was a southern rock icon. He was an original founding member of the beloved group Lynyrd Skynyrd, alongside Ronnie van Zant and Alan Collins.”

Frampton paused for the crowd to cheer, and then continued: “Gary not only helped define the band’s sound, he inspired millions of fans and musicians. He has now joined his fellow Skynyrd bandmates in rock and roll heaven, but we will all enjoy their music forever.”

Frampton added that Gary’s wife, Dale, and daughter, Mary, were in attendance, along with Rickey Medlocke,Ronny Van Zant’s widow, Judy, and his granddaughter, Arayah.

Country music’s biggest stars are honouring those affected by the mass school shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.

On Sunday, several stars in attendance at the awards show wore black ribbons to honor the victims from Monday’s mass shooting at the Nashville, Tennessee private school. The shooting, which marked Tennessee’s deadliest mass shooting in history, left three children and three adults dead, in addition to the shooter.

“You know why it is important? Today is Psalm Sunday and I’m a very religious person and what better way to honor them and support them,” Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Johnny Van Zant tells Et about the band’s decision to wear ribbons on the red carpet. “Everybody say prayers for the family. They need lifting up.”

Agreeing with his bandmate, Rickey Medlocke shares his sympathy for those mourning loved ones, saying, “I feel...

An all-star cast of guitar heroes, vocalists, and sidemen will pay tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.

Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, Zz Top’s Billy Gibbons, and Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes will all plug in their axes for a performance of two yet-to-be-named Skynyrd hits, while Texas country star Cody Johnson and Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers turn up the vocals. Chuck Leavell, the longtime Rolling Stones keyboardist, is also in the band, along with bassist Ethan Pilzer and drummer Rich Redmond.

It’s a...

If you thought the death of Gary Rossington, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s sole surviving original member, last Sunday would bring the Southern rock band’s 52-year career to a close, you only had to be at the Plant City Strawberry Festival in Florida Sunday night. Lynyrd Skynyrd took the stage a week after their founding guitarist’s death at 71 to play all the hits, from “What’s Your Name” and “Gimme Three Steps” to the one-two show-closing punch of “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird.”

But the group also paid tribute...

The Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam was among the first major music festivals to return since the onset of the pandemic. But while the June installment of the multi-day country-music festival in Panama City Beach, Florida, went off without a hitch, the Gulf Coast Jam planned for Labor Day has been postponed until 2022.

A statement on the festival website reads: “Due to the ongoing public health emergency caused by the current growth of Covid-19 cases in Bay County, Florida and across the country, the 9th Annual Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, scheduled...

Milwaukee’s Summerfest 2021 joins the growing list of events requiring a Covid-19 vaccine or negative test for entry, according to a joint statement with the City of Milwaukee Health Department.

The 53rd iteration of the event — which runs September 2nd-4th, 9th-11th, and 16th-18th, — will feature more than 1,000 performances including Miley Cyrus, Chris Stapleton, Megan Thee Stallion, Jonas Brothers, Luke Bryan, Chance the Rapper, Guns N’ Roses, Dave Chapelle, Wilco, Dave Matthews Band, Diplo, Fitz and the Tantrums, Bleachers, Dave Chapelle, Black Pumas, Run the Jewels, Pixies, Rise Against,...

As major tours began rolling out across the country last month, many worried it was too soon and that Covid-19 breakouts could force shows or even entire tours to be postponed or canceled. Over the last few days, those worst-case scenarios have begun playing out as major touring acts have bowed out of shows or shut down tours — in some cases mere weeks into a run.

Over the weekend, Counting Crows canceled performances in Boston and Youngston, Ohio (the former just hours before showtime), claiming a positive Covid-19 case within their “touring party.

Lynyrd Skynyrd have canceled four shows from their current summer tour after guitarist Rickey Medlocke tested positive for Covid-19.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, Lynyrd Skynyrd is unable to perform the next four shows in Canton, Oh, Jackson, Mi, Atlanta, Ga and Cullman, Al,” the band wrote on social media Saturday.

“Longtime band member Rickey Medlocke has tested positive for Covid-19. Rickey is home resting and responding well to treatment. We will continue to update you on his condition.”

Lynyrd Skynyrd were scheduled to headline Monday’s Concert for Legends at...

Lynyrd Skynyrd has pulled out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame concert after guitarist Rickey Medlocke tested positive for Covid-19.

The country rock band was set to co-headline the concert Monday night with Brad Paisley but Medlocke’s positive test forced the group’s withdrawal, according to a band statement.

“Rickey is home resting and responding well to treatment,” the statement said.

Jimmie Allen, who was the opening act, has extended his set list to open the show. He performs a duet with Paisley on the current hit “Freedom Was a Highway.”

The band also ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd has pulled out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame concert after guitarist Rickey Medlocke tested positive for Covid-19.

The country rock band was set to co-headline the concert Monday night with Brad Paisley but Medlocke’s positive test forced the group’s withdrawal, according to a band statement.

“Rickey is home resting and responding well to treatment,” the statement said.

Jimmie Allen, who was the opening act, has extended his set list to open the show. He performs a duet with Paisley on the current hit “Freedom Was a Highway.”

The band also ...

There’s a simple acoustic ballad called “Old Enough to Know” on Blackberry Smoke’s new album You Hear Georgia that captures that bittersweet moment when experience collides with age. Just when you’ve figured out the tricks to living life, you’re already past the point where they can help you.

“They don’t tell ya till you’re old enough to know” sings Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr in the melancholy song, written with frequent collaborator Travis Meadows.

Two decades into their career, Blackberry Smoke may not be at that juncture just yet,...

Fifteen months after they last performed a live concert, Lynyrd Skynyrd returned to the stage on Friday to shake off the rust. The titans of Southern rock closed out Night One of the Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, a country-leaning multi-day festival in Panama City Beach, Florida, that featured headlining sets by Brad Paisley and Luke Bryan.

Naturally, they ended their show with “Free Bird,” that storied 1973 marathon of guitar theatrics — a song so comically requested at gigs that Jason Isbell recently warned against shouting it out at his own shows.

Farewell tours are so 2020. After the pandemic derailed Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour, the venerable Southern rock band are resuming and rebranding their trek: The Big Wheels Keep on Turnin’ Tour kicks off June 13th and includes 30 dates into November.

The group’s core members — founding guitarist Gary Rossington, singer Johnny Van Zant, and guitarist Rickey Medlocke — spoke about their decision to remain a touring act in a new video interview.

“Covid turned our world upside down. And since that time, we have been talking amongst the band,...

“You hear Georgia when I open my mouth/don’t make no difference what I’m talking about,” Charlie Starr sings in the very first line of Blackberry Smoke’s new song “You Hear Georgia,” laying bare the focus of the group’s new album — an ode to their home state also titled You Hear Georgia.

Due May 28th, the LP teams the rock, country, and all-around Southern band with producer Dave Cobb, a fellow Georgian and the curator of RCA Studio A in Nashville, where You Hear Georgia was recorded live.

Guitarist Neal Casal was known for his thoughtful, patient playing style with groups like Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Ryan Adams’ Cardinals, and his own Circles Around the Sun. When he died in 2019, he left behind a meticulously organized creative archive. In addition to his work in bands and as a session musician, the New Jersey native released 12 solo albums and curated a collection of more than 25,000 photos.

Both artistic outlets figure prominently into the newly created Neal Casal Music Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit that aims to put musical instruments, with lessons on how to play them,...

Lynyrd Skynyrd will release a new concert album that documents the venerable Southern rock groups’ farewell tour. Lynyrd Skynyrd: Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour Lyve! was recorded at the band’s hometown performance in Jacksonville, Florida, on September 2nd, 2018.

Ahead of the 17-track album’s release on November 1st, the group previews the set with a video of “What’s Your Name” filmed onstage at Tiaa Bank Field.

Opening with the famous riff from guitarists Gary Rossington and Rickey Medlocke, the performance finds singer Johnny Van Zant (who...

Lynyrd Skynyrd are stretching their farewell tour to “Freebird”-sized proportions by adding dozens of new summer dates. The group announced its Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour last year, and will resume it this year with a set at the Stagecoach festival. Cody Jinks, Hank Williams, Jr. and Bad Company will each appear with them on select dates. Tickets will go on sale on February 8th at 10 a.m. local time.

“It takes a long time to finish a farewell tour when you’re like us, ’cause we’ve played everywhere,...

Meat Loaf has a cold. That voice - superhuman, louder than a locomotive, able to leap tall octaves in a single bound - sounds hoarse and congested over the telephone today. He's convinced it's allergies. I offer my apologies, which he quickly dismisses. "You don't control the pollen. Or Do You!?" He's joking, but I'm momentarily terrified. To be on the receiving end of Meat Loaf's roar, even at half blast, can be intimidating. It'll take a hell of a lot more than a case of sniffles to enfeeble that larynx, an instrument that's unleashed rock arias for more than four decades.

Meat Loaf has a cold. That voice - superhuman, louder than a locomotive, able to leap tall octaves in a single bound - sounds hoarse and congested over the telephone today. He's convinced it's allergies. I offer my apologies, which he quickly dismisses. "You don't control the pollen. Or Do You!?" He's joking, but I'm momentarily terrified. To be on the receiving end of Meat Loaf's roar, even at half blast, can be intimidating. It'll take a hell of a lot more than a case of sniffles to enfeeble that larynx, an instrument that's unleashed rock arias for more than four decades.

Lynyrd Skynyrd have announced three new UK dates this November. The southern rockers mark the release of new album Last of a Dyin' Breed with shows in Gateshead, London and Norwich. The band, led by core members Gary Rossington, Johnny Van Zant and Rickey Medlocke, performed three sold-out UK dates in June. Tickets for the new shows are on sale now priced at £38.50/£45 and £40/£45 for London. The full UK tour dates are as follows:

November 11 - Gateshead, SageNovember 12 - London, O2 Shepherds Bush EmpireNovember 14 - Norwich, Uea

Last (more)...

Southern rockers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, are set to appear on Fox News Channel.s Hannity to talk God & Guns this Friday. That.s not the only reason Lynyrd Skynyrd will be on Hannity Friday. Sean Hannity, a long time supporter of Lynyrd Skynyrd, welcomed Rickey Medlocke, Gary Rossington and Johnny Van Zant on the show to also make a very special announcement. Tune in Friday to find out. Skynyrd released God & Guns on September 29 on Loud & Proud / Roadrunner Records. The LP manages to maintain the iconic Skynyrd punch while sounding completely contemporary. Attracting attention in these politically divided times is the title track, which harbors a sense of unwillingness to back down that hearkens...