Lynyrd Skynyrd revealed in March they decided to go on following the death of guitarist and original member Gary Rossington, and Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke thinks it’s a decision that just makes sense for the band.
Medlocke tells ABC Audio that the band, management and the families of Gary, Johnny Van Zandt and the others got together and decided, “Let the band go out and honor and pay tribute to what was great music and a great band.” Because at the end of the day, Medlocke notes, “We are still players, we love to perform. Lynyrd Skynyrd has always been a live entity, even the old band. The original band was a live entity.”
In fact, he says playing live was always what was important to them, sharing, “We grew up in a time, Johnny and myself, Gary, we never thought about being rock stars. We thought about going out and making our living playing music.”
And while Medlocke knows there will be some music fans who question the decision to go on, he’s not losing sleep over it.
“At some point, of course, all good things come to an end,” he says. “And for all those people out there that, you know, at one time or another beat us up over doing whatever we’re doing, guess what? At some point we’ll be gone and then they can go on to somebody else and beat somebody else up.”
Until that happens, fans have plenty of chances to see Lynyrd Skynyrd live. They’re set to play Brandon, Mississippi, on Saturday, April 29. And they kick off their Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour with ZZ Top on Friday, July 21. A complete list of dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com.
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