Gary Rossington
Encyclopedia
Gary Robert Rossington is a founding member of Southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...

 band Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...

. He plays lead and rhythm guitar. He is also a founding member of The Rossington-Collins Band
The Rossington-Collins Band
The Rossington Collins Band was a southern rock band founded in 1979 by guitarists Allen Collins and Gary Rossington following the 1977 plane crash which killed three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, of which both had been members. The Jacksonville band released two albums, but disbanded in 1982...

 along with former Lynyrd Skynyrd bandmate, the late Allen Collins
Allen Collins
Larkin Allen Collins Jr. was one of the founding members and guitarists of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and co-wrote many of the band's songs with late frontman Ronnie Van Zant...

. He is the only original member still with the band.

Biography

Rossington formed the band as a teenager with friends Ronnie Van Zant
Ronnie Van Zant
Ronald Wayne "Ronnie" Van Zant was an American lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and a founding member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd...

, Allen Collins
Allen Collins
Larkin Allen Collins Jr. was one of the founding members and guitarists of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and co-wrote many of the band's songs with late frontman Ronnie Van Zant...

, Larry Junstrom
Larry Junstrom
Larry Junstrom is the bassist of American rock band .38 Special. He was also one of the founding members of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd....

 and Bob Burns
Bob Burns (drummer)
Bob Burns is an American drummer who was in the original line-up of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Burns helped to form the band in 1964 with Gary Rossington and Larry Junstrom and remained until 1974, although by some accounts he left the band for a while during the early 1970s...

 in the summer of 1964. Skynyrd gained national exposure starting in 1973 with the release of their first album and hit single "Free Bird
Free Bird
"Free Bird" is a song by the American southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd...

".

Rossington's instrument of choice was a 1959 Gibson Les Paul that he purchased from a woman whose boyfriend had left her and left behind his guitar. He named it "Berneice" in honor of his mother whom he was close to. Rossington has played lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...

 on "Tuesday's Gone
Tuesday's Gone
"Tuesday's Gone" is the second track on Lynyrd Skynyrd's first album, "". One of the band's most popular songs, its relaxing pace and serenading guitars have made it a fan staple. The lyrics, featuring themes of a relationship ending because of extensive touring, are similar in mood to the band's...

" and the slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...

 for "Free Bird". Along with Collins, Rossington also provided the guitar work for "Simple Man".

On Labor Day weekend in 1976, Rossington and fellow Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins
Allen Collins
Larkin Allen Collins Jr. was one of the founding members and guitarists of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and co-wrote many of the band's songs with late frontman Ronnie Van Zant...

 were both involved in separate auto accidents in their hometown of Jacksonville. Rossington had just bought a new Ford Torino
Ford Torino
The Ford Torino is an intermediate automobile produced by the Ford Motor Company for the North American market between 1968 and 1976. The car was named after the city of Turin , which is considered the Detroit of Italy...

, and hit an oak tree while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The band was due to go on tour in a couple of days, but had to postpone this tour due to Rossington's accident. The band members were not at all pleased with Rossington, and fined him $5000 for the delay caused to the band's schedule. Van Zant and Collins wrote the song "That Smell
That Smell
"That Smell" is a song by the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Written by Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Allen Collins, it was released in 1977 on the album Street Survivors. At the time the song was written, the band had been drinking and doing many different drugs...

" based on the wreck, and Rossington's state of influence from drugs and alcohol at the time. "Whiskey bottles and brand new cars, oak tree you're in my way. There's too much coke and too much smoke."

Rossington was one of six band members who survived the October 20, 1977 plane crash near Gillsburg, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 that took the lives of Van Zant, Steve Gaines
Steve Gaines
Steven Earl Gaines was an American musician. He is most well known as a guitarist and songwriter for southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and is the younger brother of Cassie Gaines, who was also a member of the band...

, Cassie Gaines
Cassie Gaines
Cassie LaRue Gaines was an American singer. She was a member of the female gospel vocal trio The Honkettes, who in 1975 became the backup singers for Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd....

, and three others. Despite breaking both arms, both legs, both wrists, both ankles and his pelvis, Rossington would eventually recover from his injuries and play on stage again (albeit with steel rods in his right arm and one of his legs). He battled with serious drug addiction throughout the next several years, partially as a result of his heavy dependence on medication taken during his recovery from the plane crash.

In 1980, Rossington co-founded The Rossington-Collins Band with Collins. The band released two albums, but disbanded in 1982 after the death of Collins' wife, Kathy.

Rossington still plays in the current Lynyrd Skynyrd lineup. With the death of keyboardist Billy Powell
Billy Powell
William Norris "Billy" Powell was an American musician. He was the longtime keyboardist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, from 1970 until his death in 2009.-Biography:...

 on January 28, 2009, Rossington is now the only original band member left in the reformed band.

Gary Rossington and Dale Krantz-Rossington have had two daughters, Mary and Annie. Their side project, the Rossington Band, opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd during their 1987-88 reunion tour. The Rossington Band released the following albums: Returned to the Scene of the Crime, 1986 and Love Your Man in 1988.

He had a heart problem which was successfully operated on. Rossington also occasionally experiences pain in his legs severe enough to force him to miss shows; this is an ongoing by-product of the 1977 plane crash.

Rossington is an avid fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. He recorded a video, along with remaining members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, that is played at every Jaguars home game on the Everbank Field video board.

Equipment

Rossington has used Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...

s and a Gibson SG
Gibson SG
At the launch of the SG in 1961, Gibson offered four variants of the SG; the SG Junior , the SG Special, the SG Standard, and the top-of-the-line SG Custom. However, Gibson's current core variants as of 2010 are the SG Standard and the SG Special...

 throughout his career. He is mostly seen playing a Les Paul in sunburst finish, but he can be seen playing a red SG with tremolo for the song Free Bird
Free Bird
"Free Bird" is a song by the American southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd...

.

External links

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