Johnny Van Zant Talks About Joining LYNYRD SKYNYRD - “I Never Tried To Be Ronnie”
November 24, 2019, 5 years ago
In a new SiriusXM interview, Johnny Van Zant talks about joining Lynyrd Skynyrd and the pressures he felt creating new music and living up to the famous sound. Van Zant replaced his late brother Ronnie as singer, after the tragic 1977 plane crash in Mississippi, just three days after the release of their famous Street Survivors album. Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, along with backup singer Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray were all killed on impact. The band would be on hiatus until 1987.
“I guess I'm a funny guy,” Van Zant says. “I never tried to be Ronnie. I never wore a cowboy hat. Never went barefooted. I just wanted to be Johnny.”
