Lynyrd Skynyrd's guitarist, Damon Johnson, who joined the band in 2023, is opening up about their first live performance following the death of founding member Gary Rossington.
BraveWords reported that Johnson shared details about the band's first performance following Rossington's March 2023 death in a September 2025 interview on The Rock ‘n’ Blues Experience. Johnson shared that the band chose to play at a festival in Florida, in honor of Rossington, who was from Jacksonville. According to Johnson, Lynyrd Skynyrd had considered cancelling their appearance because of Rossington's death. However, his wife, singer Dale Krantz Rossington, convinced them otherwise.
"She said, ‘under no circumstances do I want you guys to cancel. I want you to go play that show, honor my husband and your brother, Gary,'" recalled Johnson during the interview.
He also said "the day after that concert," he and his bandmates, which currently include Krantz-Rossington, Johnny Van Zant, Michael Cartellone, Mark Matejka, Robbie Harrington, Carol Chase, Peter Keys, Rickey Medlocke, and Stacy Michelle, attended "Gary’s funeral in Jacksonville."
"So we literally came off stage onto the buses and we drove about 90 minutes north to Jacksonville to be there for the funeral the next day," said Johnson during the September 2025 interview. "So, you know, the show was very somber. We were all incredibly sad. The audience was incredibly sad. And at the same time, there was this real feeling of gratitude to Gary. There was a feeling of honouring him and all of his work, his body of work. And of course, just the legacy of Lynyrd Skynyrd in general. It was just a heavy, heavy moment.”
Johnny Van Zant Discussed Continuing to Honor Gary Rossington's Legacy in October 2023
Van Zant, who is the band's current vocalist, discussed honoring Rossington's legacy following his death in an October 2023 interview on 96.9 The Eagle Jacksonville. He noted that Rossington outlived the other original band members, which also included Van Zant's late brother, Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns, Allen Collins, and Larry Junstrom.
"[Rossington] wanted us to carry on. And he carried on for his brothers," said Van Zant.
He also said that Rossington "didn't really come out" to perform with the band in "the last couple of years" before his death. According to Van Zant, Rossington's final performance with Lynyrd Skynyrd was in November 2022.
'We did it at the Ryman Auditorium [in Nashville]. That was his last performance with us. It was amazing," said Van Zant in the 2023 interview.
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