Credit: Doltyn Snedden
Look for Lynyrd Skynyrd to stay on the road into next year. In a new interview with USA Today, frontman Johnny Van Zant discusses the legendary Southern rock band’s plans to retire from the road and what else the group is hoping to accomplish before calling it quits.
Lynyrd Skynyrd launched their Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour last year. Trek’s currently mapped out through a September 28 concert in Orange Beach, Alabama.
Van Zant tells the newspaper that Skynyrd decided to mount the farewell tour because guitarist Gary Rossington, the band’s last surviving original member, has a bad heart and the group “wanted to let people know that, ‘Hey, our time is coming to an end.'” He adds, “We wanted to do it right and I think so far we have.”
As for how long the trek might last, Johnny, who joined Skynyrd in 1987, says, “[W]e’re going to keep busy probably for another year and then see what happens next year, as long as Gary’s health is OK.”
Regarding Rossington’s current health status, Van Zant reports, “He’s doing really good right now. He had a pacemaker put in a while back.”
Johnny also reveals that Lynyrd Skynyrd is preparing to record a new album “and are going into the studio pretty soon to cut a few things.” Van Zant says he isn’t sure when the new album will be ready for release, noting that it “depends on Gary’s health.”
According to Johnny, Rossington is in good health now and he “wants to go in and start recording a few tracks here and there.” He adds that Skynyrd might release the songs they complete “track by track, and then after we get it all done, put it together as a CD.”
Here are all of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s confirmed upcoming North American shows:
4/27 — Indio, CA, Stagecoach Festival
5/10 — Tuscaloosa, AL, Tuscaloosa Amphitheater#
5/11 — Arlington, TX, KAABOO Texas Festival
5/17 — New Orleans, LA, Smoothie King Center+
5/18 — Lafayette, LA, Cajundome+
5/24 — Uncasville, CT, Mohegan Sun Arena
5/31 — Gilford, NH, Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion+
6/1 — Bangor, ME, Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion+
7/12 — Edenvale, ON, Canada, Roxodus Music Festival
7/13 — Canandaigua, NY, Constellation Brands–Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center: CMAC*
7/14 — Queens, NY, Forest Hills Stadium+
7/19 — Welch, MN, Treasure Island Resort & Casino++
7/20 — Walker, MN, Moondance Jam
7/26 — Ridgefield, WA, Sunlight Supply Amphitheater**
7/27 — Auburn, WA, White River Amphitheatre**
8/9 — Albuquerque, NM, Isleta Amphitheater
8/16 — Las Vegas, NV, T-Mobile Arena**
8/17 — Wheatland, CA, Toyota Amphitheatre***
8/23 — Irvine, CA, FivePoint Amphitheatre presented by Mercury Insurance@
8/30 — Camden, NJ, BB&T Pavilion+
8/31 — Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center+
9/13 — Southaven, MS, Bank Plus Amphitheater#
9/14 — Alpharetta, GA, Ameris Bank Amphitheatre#
9/20 — West Valley City, UT, USANA Amphitheater**
9/21 — Greenwood Village, CO, Fiddler’s Green**
9/27 — Brandon, MS, Brandon Amphitheater#
9/28 — Orange Beach, AL, The Wharf Amphitheater#
* = with Gov’t Mule, Buddy Guy.
** = with Bad Company.
*** = with Grand Funk Railroad, Georgia Satellites.
+ = with Hank Williams Jr.
++ = with Gov’t Mule, The Outlaws, Chris Kroeze.
# = with Cody Jinks.
@ = with ZZ Top, Cheap Trick.
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