SiriusXM disc jockey Mark Strigl recently interviewed Johnny and Donnie Van Zant. During their chat, which can be viewed below, topics discussed include: the new Van Zant album Always Look Up, their faith, Jesus, Donnie's time in 38 Special, and Johnny provides a detailed update on what the future plans are for Lynyrd Skynyrd. An excerpt has been transcribed as follows:
Mark Strigl: As far as an update on Skynyrd goes, we've heard Ricky (Medlocke, guitarist) saying that maybe there would be an album coming out that could be a tribute to Gary (Rossington, guitarist). Is there anything you could add to that?
Johnny Van Zant: "Yeah, the first thing that we got coming out - there's a lot that's going on with Skynyrd. Gary's last show was recorded at The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and man, we're puting that out on CD, Vinyl, and DVD I'm sure. And I just had a meeting, there's a movie that we're talking about. And yes, there is a lot of songs that myself, Ricky, and Gary wrote that unfortunately we never got to record. We've been going back and looking for all of them. Gary was the master of holding onto the little cassettes, no matter what. Even though you've got voice mail on the phone, he'd bring in a cassette player - the one and only guy who had one. So, his wife and daughters gave us a box of stuff that he kept. So, we've been going through it; haven't got through the whole thing, but maybe sometime in the future, my thought was to get all these artists that loved him and love Skynyrd and invite 'em in and do a whole bash to him. Who knows? Maybe we'll write some new stuff."
Gary Rossington, the last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, played his final concert with the band on November 22, 2022 at The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Rossington died at his home in Milton, Georgia, on March 5, 2023, at age 71. The cause of his death was never revealed.
Last year, Lynyrd Skynyrd unveiled the final rendition of "Gimme Three Steps" featuring Gary Rossington as a sneak peek of the Limited-Run Concert Film celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
