Lynyrd Skynyrd founder dies aged 71

He was the last surviving original member of the band

Gary Rossington, one of the founders of legendary rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, has passed away at the age of 71. The news was confirmed on the band's Facebook page, with a cause of death yet to be given. The guitarist was the last surviving original member of the band, best known for their songs 'Sweet Home Alabama' and 'Free Bird.' “It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today,” the band wrote on Facebook. “Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does. Please keep Dale, Mary, Annie and the entire Rossington family in your prayers and respect the family’s privacy at this difficult time.” Rossington survived the tragedy that struck Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977 when a plane crash killed singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines. Rossington emerged from the crash with two broken arms, a broken leg, and a punctured stomach and liver. “It was a devastating thing," he told Rolling Stone in 2006. "You can’t just talk about it real casual and not have feelings about it.” Rossington was born on December 4, 1951, in Jacksonville, Florida, and was raised by his mother after his father died. Upon meeting drummer Bob Burns and bassist Larry Junstrom, Rossington and his new friends formed a band, which they tried to juggle amid their love of baseball. [caption id="attachment_380582" align="alignnone" width="1422"] Rossington survived the 1977 plane crash that killed three of his Skynyrd band mates (Getty)[/caption] According to Rolling Stone, it was during a fateful Little League game that the trio met their future bandmates after Ronnie Van Zant hit a line drive into the shoulder blades of opposing player Bob Burns. Rossington, Burns, Van Zant, and guitarist Allen Collins gathered that afternoon at Burns’ Jacksonville home to jam the Rolling Stones’ “Time Is on My Side.” Adopting Lynyrd Skynyrd as the group’s name — both a reference to a similarly named sports coach at Rossington’s high school and to a character in the 1963 novelty hit “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” — the band released their debut album (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-’nérd) in 1973. The rock album included now-classics like “Tuesday’s Gone,” “Simple Man” and “Gimme Three Steps,” but it was the final track, the nearly 10-minute “Free Bird,” that became the group’s most famous song, due in no small part to Rossington’s work on his Gibson SG guitar. Despite the tragedies that hit the band, Rossington has previously said that he never considered Skynyrd to be a tragic group. “I don’t think of it as tragedy — I think of it as life,” he said upon the group’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2006. “I think the good outweighs the bad.” Related links:

• Health update on Ed Sheeran's wife after she was diagnosed with tumour
• Mick Fleetwood says Fleetwood Mac are 'done' following Christine McVie's death