Life can guarantee one thing: surprises. Some nasty, but many delightfully pleasant. For Johnny Van Zant, he marvels in the latter kind of awe when he thinks about his career leading the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, a role he feels “blessed” to fulfill.
Originally formed as My Backyard in 1964, Lynyrd Skynyrd was first led by Ronnie Van Zant as lead vocalist, with Gary Rossington and Allen Collins on guitar, Bob Burns on drum, and Larry Junstrom on bass. Johnny hopped on board as the new lead vocalist in ’87.
Johnny Van Zant expresses gratitude to lead Lynyrd Skynyrd
During a 2013 interview with the radio station 99.5 WKDQ, Johnny expressed humble gratitude at the success the band has enjoyed and his front-row seat to the adventure. “We’re very blessed,” he said. What makes this such a blessing is the fans.
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“Any time on stage you can look out and go, ‘Hey, you know what, there’s three different generations out there’…It’s a pretty amazing thing,” he elaborated.
Johnny believes that the band’s tendency to touch on normal, relatable themes in their music make them timeless and he feels that fans can know they are listening to “normal” people just like them.
Johnny Van Zant enjoys keeping Lynyrd Skynyrd for everyone
Speaking of the band’s appeal, Johnny mused, “We’re not some starry band that thinks we’re better than our fans.”
He went on, “We go home, take out our garbage, take our kids to school, cut our grass and do normal things, and I think that’s the connection….I think Skynyrd’s music, it relates to common people, and hard working people, and good people, and that’s what’s kept this music around all these years.”
Name and lineup changes would be a common theme in the early years of Lynyrd Skynyrd, before it even went by that moniker. Eventually, membership settled into Ed King on guitar, Leon Wilkeson on bass, and Billy Powell on keyboard.
Through all this change, Lynyrd Skynyrd has been united by fans of all backgrounds that Johnny calls “three generations bold.” Tragically, there are no original members who remain, and the band was left with the daunting task of deciding to continue on regardless. In the end, guitarist Rickey Medlocke explained, “It’s all about the music. Those are such iconic and great songs, and I feel very honored and very proud that I’ve been able to be there and play those songs all this time.”
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