Guitarist Gary Rossington, the last living founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the historic American rock group of the 1970s who had among his hits "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird", has died at the age of 71.
"It is with our deepest compassion and sadness that we must announce that we have lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today," the American band announced in a post published on Facebook. Born in 1951 in Florida, he formed Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1964 with drummer Bob Burns and bassist Larry Junstrom. His guitar solo in «Free Bird» , a nearly ten-minute song, is considered one of the most famous in rock history . The musician had suffered from heart problems for years and had undergone emergency heart surgery in 2021. In 1976 and 1977 he had survived two serious accidents, one with a car, the other with a motorcycle.
Lynyrd Skynyrd took the stage on the sidelines of the 2016 Republican convention, where Donald Trump ran for president of the United States.
(Unioneonline/F)
