Slash from Guns N’ Roses and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top are two musicians that will pay tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd at the CMT Music Awards.
At the gathering, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s final original founding member and guitarist Gary Rossington’s death will be remembered.
One of the most notable musical lowlights in recent memory is the recent demise of guitarist Gary Rossington, the final original founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, 50 years after the release of the band’s debut album. Wynonna Judd, LeAnn Rimes, Paul Rodgers from Bad Company, Chuck Leavell, and Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers Band, and country singer Cody Johnson will all play with the guitarists.
According to Billboard, “Johnson and Rodgers will [sing] lead vocals with Gibbons, with Slash and Haynes on electric guitar for a one-time-only performance of a pair of timeless Lynyrd Skynyrd hits.”
Lynyrd Skynyrd, regarded as a pioneer in the Southern rock genre, debuted in 1964 as My Backyard. The band developed its sound while perfecting it in clubs around the South, fusing elements of country, blues, and British rock.
Along with Rossington’s demise on March 5, 2023, an aircraft disaster in 1977 claimed the lives of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Steve Gaines’ sister, vocalist Cassie Gaines. This put the band on hold for ten years. Allen Collins, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson, and Hughie Thomasson were among the band’s other founding members that left after its reunion in September 1987.
The CMT Music Awards will be broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ on April 2 at 8:00 p.m. The Black Crowes, Carrie Underwood, and Ashley McBryde are some further acts that have been confirmed for the event.
