Details We Know So Far

Gary Rossington isn't the only member of Lynyrd Skynyrd who's confronted death head-on. Back in 1977, three of the band's original members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines died when their plane crashed in a wooded area of Mississippi when trying to perform an emergency landing. Rossington was on board at

Gary Rossington isn't the only member of Lynyrd Skynyrd who's confronted death head-on. Back in 1977, three of the band's original members — Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines — died when their plane crashed in a wooded area of Mississippi when trying to perform an emergency landing. Rossington was on board at the time, as History explains, but along with 20 other passengers survived.

Lynyrd Skynyrd had chartered Convair flight 240 out of Addison, Texas, during a tour after fellow rockers Aerosmith decided not to use the very same aircraft out of safety concerns. This decision led to one of the most tragic events in recent musical history, a pattern oddly repeated in the deaths of other flight-bound musicians such as Patsy Cline in 1963, Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1990, and Aaliyah in 2001, as per Mental Floss.

Currently, Lynyrd Skynyrd are on their farewell tour following a 15-month delay due to COVID-19. The 30-date U.S. tour started June 13 and runs through November 19, as the Lynyrd Skynyrd website states. "COVID turned our world upside down," the band's site says, "And since that time, we have been talking amongst the band, and realized that music has such a way of healing. Maybe it's not our time to go. And maybe it's our time to lift people's spirits and lives and bring back some joy and happiness after so much turmoil this past year. We're still standing, still keeping the music going."

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