Southern comfort: Rock icons Lynyrd Skynyrd celebrates 50 years of debut album release with ABQ stop

Sep. 19—Legendary Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd is commemorating 50 years since its debut album with a tour.

The lineup features Johnny Van Zant, brother of original Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman and founder, Ronnie Van Zant, who tragically passed in a plane crash along with other members of the band. Ronnie's brother, Johnny Van Zant, reformed the band a decade after the tragedy.

"My brother Ronnie passed away in '77 in a plane crash," Johnny Van Zant said. "He was here a very short time and God gave him the gift to really touch people. And I think, you know what? This year, really it is 51 years since the first record came out, but I think these songs will be around another 50 years, and then three more generations will be on top of this. I always say there's probably some kid right now skipping school, trying to learn the beginning of 'Sweet Home Alabama,' on the guitar."

With billions of streams, tens of millions of records sold, and the recent introduction of Hell House whiskey, the band keeps Lynyrd Skynyrd's legacy alive for generations to come. It brings its show of Lynyrd Skynyrd's iconic catalog to Sandia Resort & Casino on Sunday, Sept. 29.

Carrying the Lynyrd Skynyrd torch sometimes has been difficult for Van Zant but has been a privilege to carry on his brother's legacy.

"Whenever I first started with the band, what people don't realize is that I was a fan of this music myself, and I grew up around it," Van Zant said. "I grew up before they had record deals, and seeing them play it and thinking, 'Well, OK, maybe they'll make it, maybe they won't,' and then to be a part of it was something that I never dreamt that I would have to do or want to do, but it's been an honor and a pleasure to be able to carry this legacy on."

Stepping into his brother's shoes was something Van Zant never prepared for.

"Back in '86 I took a meeting with the surviving members of the plane crash," he explained. "Ronnie, my brother, was not only the leader of the band, but he was like a father figure to those guys. He was the oldest one and kept everyone in line ... I couldn't turn away from that. I had to do it. And, I'm so glad that I made that choice. I had a record deal with Atlantic and I put it on the back burner to go out and start the tribute tour. We called it the tribute tour in '87 and well, at the end of that, it was almost like a plane crash had happened, because we all walked away from each other and said, 'Okay, well, that was great.' And then we said, 'You know what? We love each other. We're family. Let's get together and write some songs.' And we put out our first record in 1991."

Van Zant said although surviving members of the plane crash have since passed, he does not consider the current lineup a tribute band.

"Yes, we pay tribute to this music every night, but this is blood to me," he explained. "Ronnie was my brother, so it's the real deal. Again, I thank God for the tribute bands out there, because I love each and every one of them, because they love the music, but, we're carrying the song because it's family, it's blood, and it's a part of us."

Audiences will be transcended to Lynyrd Skynyrd's prime with a performance that celebrates the original lineup.

"We stick straightly to Lynyrd Skynyrd," Van Zant said of the set list. "We play all those great songs that were written and a few more. The only song that we've ever really done on stage as Skynyrd that wasn't Skynyrd was the J.J. Cale song, 'Call Me The Breeze' that a lot of the fans love and want to hear. Ronnie loved J.J. Cale and we still do it to this day."