Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington survived a plane crash, car accidents, and a heart attack, so he seemed to be nearly invincible to his bandmates. That's likely why they didn't realize their 2022 Celebrating 50 Years of Lynyrd Skynyrd show at the Ryman in Nashville would be their last together.
"You said there might be a hint that it would be his last, there was no hint on that," lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant told Tim Caple on The Rock N' Blues Experience podcast in July 2025. "I honestly thought Gary was going to be here today with us, because he survived so many things and was such a tough guy. Or maybe, in my head, I didn't want to believe that... But that particular time I was thinking he's gonna do another show with us and, unfortunately, that wasn't the case."
Though no cause of death was ever released for Rossington, Van Zant shared that the legendary guitarist was "very sick" leading up to the performance, and even called his bandmates ahead of time to warn them that he may need to sit down for some of the show.
"Hell, he stood up the whole time," said Van Zant. Fellow bandmate Rickey Medlocke agreed, adding, "I think it was just love of the music and his love of the band and not wanting to ever show any kind of weakness. I think the love of the band gave him the strength to stand up and play."
What started as a low-pressure PBS special ended up being the longest-living founding bandmember's final goodbye, and the group was extremely grateful for the experience. "It was a very special night, none of us were uptight," said Van Zant. "We had a great time in the dressing room, we hung out, talked smack with my brother, just a great night overall, and I'm glad that we're getting it out to the fans, I think Gary would be like, 'Yeah, you better put it out!'"
Lynyrd Skynyrd finally released the performance and an accompanying documentary titled Celebrating 50 Years: Live at the Ryman three years later in June 2025, and it features lots of guests from Jelly Roll to Marcus King to John Osborne of the Brothers Osborne to Brent Smith of Shinedown and Donnie Van Zant of 38 Special.
"It was a lot of fun looking back on it," said Van Zant. "We won't forget that moment in time." He also adds that watching the documentary was an emotional experience for the frontman. "I cry at my kid's graduations and things like that, but at the end of this, I actually had tears in my eyes."
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