Skynyrd's Johnny Van Zant Finds His Country Heart

It was the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, 1976. A simpler time and what felt like real personal freedom. A time when a young, barefoot Ronnie Van Zant took the stage with his new Southern rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, which -- cheered by a sell-out crowd of sweaty fans and with a Confederate flag unfurling behind them -- brought the house down with an encore rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama." All hell broke loose, and a rock legend was born.

A lot has changed in thirty years -- but one thing persists: It's still possible to crack open a beer, drift back on a daydream called "Freebird" and see Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Lynyrd Skynyrd at their white-hot best, live. The good ol' boys still do up to 100 shows a year, mostly in the summertime. (Lead singer Johnny Van Zant also tours with his brother and .38 Special founder, Donnie, as Van Zant, a country music duo.) On June 23rd, Skynyrd will square off with 3 Doors Down, Bo Bice and Hank Williams Jr. at Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal, followed by a co-headlining trek with 3 Doors Down and a solo jaunt from late June through mid-September.

Not only does performing in front of their fans keep them energized, it's what saved them in 1976. Those three sold-out nights at the Fox scored them a platinum album, One More From the Road, at a time when the band desperately needed help. Three years after signing with MCA, their last studio effort, Gimme Back My Bullets, had petered out on the charts. Furthermore, they were exhausted from touring as many as 123 nights straight -- so exhausted that drummer Bob Burns and guitarist Ed King had stepped off the bus for good. But in placing all their chips on a live album, Skynyrd won big: One More From the Road became their best-selling record, ever.

A little over a year after the album's release, of course, tragedy struck: Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines were killed in a plane crash, and the Skynyrd amps were turned off for ten long years. But Ronnie's younger brother Johnny managed to help resurrect his big brother's band, and he's been at the Skynyrd mike since 1987. "He's just like Ronnie," says lead guitarist Gary Rossington. "He looks just like him, and he sounds just like him." (Only he does wear boots onstage, unlike his brother, who went barefoot.)