Country and rock notables celebrated Lynyrd Skynyrd's contributions to both genres --and popular culture as a whole-- at Sunday's (April 2) CMT Music Awards. Cody Johnson showed off his singing skills and stage presence while sharing the frontperson role with rock royalty. The backup vocals at the heart of Skynyrd's sound were handled by LeAnn Rimes and Wynonna Judd. Warren Haynes (the Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule), Slash (Guns N' Roses) and Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) filled the roles in the Southern rock legends' three-guitar barrage, with Chuck Leavell (the Allman Brothers Band, Rolling Stones) on keyboards and Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company) sharing lead singer duties.
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The country-rock dream team honored Skynyrd and its recently-departed co-founder Gary Rossington with a pair of all-time great rock songs. First up was "Simple Man," which features an iconic guitar solo by Rossington. Rodgers and Johnson swapped verses about the virtues of motherly wisdom. The live audience lost it when "Simple Man" segued into "Sweet Home Alabama." This time around, Haynes and Gibbons joined Rodgers and Johnson in singing an instantly-recognizable staple of classic rock and country culture.
Rossington died on March 5 at age 71. A band co-founder and innovator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group's multiple-guitar sound, he was the last living original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. The band was formed in 1964 in Jacksonville, Fla. by Rossington, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, bassist Larry Junstrom, guitarist Allen Collins and drummer Bob Burns. Debut album Pronounced 'L?h-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd followed in 1974. By then, the group had settled into its classic lineup, with Billy Powell on keyboards, Ed King on guitar and Leon Wilkeson on bass.
Rossington was the only founding member to play in every version Skynyrd, both live and in studio. For examples of his virtuosic playing, look no further than some of the band's biggest hits. Nine-minute anthem "Free Bird" features Rossington on slide guitar. He plays lead guitar on the serene "Tuesday's Gone." Elsewhere in the catalog, Rossington co-wrote "Sweet Home Alabama," and a 1976 car accident he survived inspired the warning tale "That Smell."
