LYNYRD SKYNYRD's RICKEY MEDLOCKE Explains Decision To Carry On Without Any Original Members

In a new interview with FOX17 Rock & Review, LYNYRD SKYNYRD guitarist Rickey Medlocke spoke about the band's decision to go on following the death of Gary Rossington, the last original member left in the iconic southern rock group, in March 2023. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Last year and the year before, when we had that year and a half off because of COVID, was just brutal on us, as it was [on] everybody else. I mean, I really feel for people, man, having to just kind of like, 'What are we doing?' But when we came back after a year and a half, man, it opened up after things started opening, we got right back into it. Gary, on the other hand, found himself in a situation — bless his heart, man — to where he couldn't go out anymore, and we just lost him this year. And that really broke my heart. And I don't think that I've quite — still right now, after all this time, I don't think I've quite settled with it, because we were such really good friends ever since we were teenagers. And being on stage with him every night when we were touring is just something you'll miss the rest of your life."

He continued: "But you know what? This year we picked our bootstraps up and we got back into it. [Frontman] Johnny [Van Zant] and I decided, 'Hey…' The outcry of the fans were such that they said, 'Please don't let this be the end of it.' And so we decided, along with the former bandmembers' estates and relatives, that we were gonna go back out and take the great music to the fans. Because, honestly, the songs is what makes it all happen for LYNYRD SKYNYRD. It's all about the music. Those are such iconic and great songs, and I and I feel very honored and very proud that I've been able to be there and play those songs all this time. And God bless Gary for getting me back into this, and I promised him that I would stay in this band till the final note in 'Free Bird' was struck. And here I am — I'm still here."

Medlocke's latest comments echo those he made this past summer in an interview with the MediaNews Group. At the time, he said about LYNYRD SKYNYRD's decision to carry on: "I've been here over 27 years now. I've been here to see quite a few members move on, pass away, and it doesn't get any easier. We had been at a crossroads several times about whether to go on or whatever and had always maintained that it wasn't about each individual or anything like that. It was about the music that was created by those guys — Ronnie [Van Zant, Johnny's older brother], Gary, Allen [Collins]. So we made the decision to carry on with the music because, bottom line, the music is what is important."

After four SKYNYRD members were killed in an October 1977 plane crash, Rossington recruited Johnny to fill his brother's shoes a decade later.

Medlocke, who played drums in SKYNYRD in 1970-71 before leaving to lead his own band BLACKFOOT and coming back to SKYNYRD in 1996, previously defended LYNYRD SKYNYRD's decision to continue, telling Cleveland.com this past May: "People have beat us up over the years: 'Ah, you guys ain't nothin' but a freakin' tribute band' and blah, blah, blah.

"There's a lot of tribute bands out there to LYNYRD SKYNYRD, but none of them holds it as dear to their hearts as the guys who have been there as long as we have," he explained. "We have the history; I played on the first (recording) sessions. We just know that we have to portray the music with the integrity and the sound and the love as close as we can to when it was originally created."

Rossington was the last surviving founding member of LYNYRD SKYNYRD. On March 5, his bandmates announced the news of his death in a statement shared on their social media.

The guitarist had previously dealt with various heart problems throughout the years, including emergency heart surgery in 2021.