Last founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd dies

FLORIDA, March 7: Guitarist Gary Rossington, the last remaining original member of the US rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, has died at the age of 71.

One of the band's founding members, he appeared on all of their albums and co-wrote the 1974 hit "Sweet Home Alabama".

He was also one of the survivors of a 1977 plane crash that killed several of his bandmates.

Although he had suffered heart problems in recent years, Rossington had been playing shows as recently as February.

A statement on the band's Facebook page mentioned his death.

No cause of death was given, but Rossington had heart surgery in 2021, according to a post from the band at the time.

Rossington was born in 1951 in Florida, founding the first iteration of Lynyrd Skynyrd - called Me, You, and Him - in 1964 with drummer Bob Burns and bassist Larry Junstrom.

They added singer Ronnie Van Zant later that summer and settled on the name Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The band is famous for Blues Rock songs and their songs like "Simple Man", "Mississippi Kid" and "Free Bird" are still popular just as they were back then.

(source: BBC)

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