Jacksonville, Florida spawned a disproportionate amount of now-classic Southern rock bands. Allman Brothers. Molly Hatchet. 38 Special. Blackfoot. Cowboy. And, yes, Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Johnny Van Zant is the younger brother of Skynyrd legend Ronnie Van Zant and 38 Special singer Donnie Van Zant, and since 1987 he’s been the frontman for the rebooted Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Over the phone on a recent cold Wednesday morning, I ask Johnny why Jacksonville’s been such fertile ground for Southern rock, the subgenre known for blue-jean anthems and guitar solos as long as highways.
“You know, man, it was a very poor town way back when,” Van Zant says. “There was a whole lot to do here. We didn’t have anything to do. But music fell on everybody’s ears, and I think we all chose to do music instead of getting into crime and going to jail. You could do music. And I think all the guys growing up all went, ‘Hey, let’s start a band.’ Then I think it got to be a competition between everybody. Who’s gonna make it? Who’s gonna do this? Who’s gonna do that? The Allmans went on to Macon [Georgia], but all the rest of us kind of stayed here.”
Prior to first being enlisted sing with surviving Skynyrd musicians for a successful ‘87 tour -- 10 years after the infamous 1977 plane crash that killed Ronnie and several other members of the band -- Johnny fronted his own Johnny Van Zant Band. With brother Donnie, Johnny recorded as a duo under the name Van Zant, a project he’s returned to from time to time since.
Currently, Johnny Van Zant is on tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd and coheadliners ZZ Top, playing Skynyrd classics like “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Tuesday’s Gone” and “Free Bird” to packed arenas and festivals. Complete tour dates lynyrdskynyrd.com.
After guitarist Gary Rossington died in 2023, no original members of Lynyrd Skynyrd remain alive. Artimus Pyle, who replaced original drummer Bob Burns in 1974, tours with his own band and has been out of Skynyrd for a while.
In addition to JVZ on the mic, Skynyrd’s current lineup has guitarists Rickey Medlocke, Damon Johnson and Mark “Sparky” Matjka, drummer Michael Cartellone, keyboardist Peter Keys and bassist Keith Christopher. As their hot performance on New Year’s Eve on live national TV attests, this lineup is honoring the band’s legacy and bringing those songs to millions of fans who love them.
The amiable Van Zant checked in for our phone interview from his home just outside the city of his birth and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s. Edited excerpts below.
Johnny, I’m sure you love all the Skynyrd songs, and there are so many great ones. But has one or two grown on you after singing them all these years now?
Johnny Van Zant: I always liked “Simple Man.” But after being at the band as long and seeing how it’s touched so many people. When I joined the band, I thought it was going to be “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama,” those songs, but people really gravitate to “Simple Man.” And every night when we play it, it just amazes me. I mean, you can take the biggest, baddest, burliest guy in the world and you might see him crying in the audience because, hey, we all want to make our mama happy. And also the ladies, they’re like, I love this song.
Like you said, there’s so many good songs, and it’s been actually a problem for us because we’ve made new records. But whenever we play live, we want people to hear that old stuff that made this band basically. And it’s been hard to throw a couple of new things in there because you want to play “That Smell” and “What’s Your Name” … [Laughs] And “Give Me Three Steps” and “Alabama” and “Free Bird.” It makes it hard for a setlist.
This year we’re actually doing “Whiskey Rock-A-Roller” -- we’ve got a whiskey out that’s called “Hell House Whiskey” – and it went over so good. I’m having a great time playing that one. And then, I don’t know for sure if we’re gonna do it all this year, we went back and did “All I Can Do Is Write About It,” which is just a great song. And we put in “Red White & Blue” from the later stuff.
What’s your take on the digital avatars Kiss unveiled at their final concert? And, eventually, when it gets to where you want to step away from the microphone, where does Skynyrd go from there?
I don’t know, dude. [Laughs] That’s pretty wild to me. I think it fits them because of their characters and I think it’s a great idea for them. You know, whether it would be for Skynyrd, I have no clue. I think people still want to see the live in-person person.
Skynyrd made great records, but seeing a Skynyrd a show is what it’s all about. Hell, they went and blew The Who off the stage and gave The Rolling Stones a hell of a run for their money. There’s something about Skynyrd, even to today, you know. Come see it live. It’s very active and very energized.
Fans loved the official release of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 1976 performance at the Knebworth Festival in England. And more archival and vault releases coming up that you can tease, where it be live stuff or studio outtakes?
There’s all sorts of stuff – I can’t say -- but looking for stuff too. The problem with the original band was nowadays everybody’s got a camera on their phone, but way back when it was all handheld cameras. And I guess the management back then didn’t look into the future and say, Hey, let’s videotape a lot of stuff. So here’s very little bit of it out there that we can find.
What’s a moment onstage you feel particularly close to your brother Ronnie, singing his songs with Lynyrd Skynyrd?
I think from the very get-go. I mean, there’s not a time that I don’t go on stage I go and go, OK brother, be with me and let’s go out and kick some butt. But there is a moment in the show doing “Free Bird” we have a video screen … And it’s the only thing that we actually use that’s taped. We’re a total live band, What you see is what you get. If I’m sick, you’re gonna get a sick throat. If one of the boys has got a hurt finger, he may not hit that lick. But we’re gonna give it hell.
But during “Free Bird” he actually sings with the band on the second verse. And it’s a pretty amazing thing. If you’re a fan of Skynyrd, you’ve gotta see it.
John 5, a guitarist Lynyrd Skynyrd cowrote with on the band’s most recent studio album, “Last of a Dyin’ Breed,” is now the guitar player in Mötley Crüe. What made him a good collaborator for Skynyrd?
Matt, let me tell you the story. We were up in Nashville, we were writing and our management came to us and said, “Hey, there’s this fantastic guitar player. He plays with Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson.” And I was like, “Well …” And so Gary [Rossington] at the time said, “Shit, let’s see this guy and if he’s great.” So we googled him and went, holy shit, he’s a great guitar player.
So he was in Nashville, and we were staying at a Residence Inn. And so we were in a hotel room -- I had like a living room and a kitchen, two bedrooms – and we were sitting there writing there that afternoon. They said he’d be there around four o’clock. And I opened up the door and he was completely dressed like he was a Marilyn Manson or Rob Zombie. I was like, Oh my God, dude. You are a freak. And he looks at me, and he goes, “I thought you were looking like a freak, too.” [Laughs]
So we just hit it off. And he’s a great guy, unbelievable player. We wrote a few great songs. We wrote some good country stuff that has never been recorded. The guy can play heavy metal, he can play country like nobody can play it -- just a wonderful guy, man. We’ve been friends ever since, and I’m glad he’s getting to go out there with the Crüe.
Of course, in “Sweet Home Alabama” there’s the line: “I hope Neil Young will remember a Southern man don’t need him around, anyhow.” [Ronnie Van Zant wrote the lyrics in response to Young’s songs “Alabama” and “Southern Man,” which where critical of the South.] Have you ever met Neil Young?
You know what? First of all I want to say everybody in Skynyrd’s always loved Neil Young’s music. But to answer your question, I’ve never met Neil. We actually put the word out we said, hey, let’s go play some shows. But we never heard back from it, so maybe he don’t like us as good as we like him. [Laughs]
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