I have long loved music of various sorts, and I was heavily into the rock scene back in my wild hippy days. And every now and then I discover that some of my old favs have gone on to become Christians, as I did back in August of 1971.
I may be a bit slow, but I learned something new just now in this regard. It was a very exciting discovery indeed. It has to do with the famous 1970s rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, its lead singer, and his two brothers. Let me back up and say that I have long been a big fan of southern rock. So that included groups like the Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, the Charlie Daniels Band, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Perhaps the earliest group was the Allman Brothers, and I listened to their various albums before my mid-1971 conversion to Christ. Their 1971 classic double live album recorded at the Fillmore East in New York City was one I especially listened to over and over again
Sadly two months after my conversion Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident. And in late 1972 the band’s bassist Berry Oakley, still grieving Duane’s death, and somewhat inebriated, crashed his motorcycle into the side of a bus, just three blocks from where Duane had been killed!
Of the four groups, the only one I got to see was the Marshall Tucker Band. That was in Milwaukee in 1978 or so. But I need to get back to Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Van Zants. Ronnie Van Zant, the original lead singer, and a few other band members were killed in a plane crash back in 1977.
I had known that his brothers Donnie Van Zant and Johnny Van Zant had got involved. Johnny became the lead vocalist for the reunited Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1987, and Donnie was the leader and vocalist of .38 Special. What I did not know is that both seem to now be Christians!
My discovery went like this: I clicked on YouTube and it had various songs listed. One mentioned “Van Zant”. I thought to myself, ‘I know that name.’ And a pic that went with the video seemed like this could well be a Ronnie connection.
Well, I don’t know about you, but learning this made my day! Jesus is in the business of redeeming people. Old rockers are still coming to Christ. And when I saw their music video I noted that it was just released a day or two ago – no wonder I was not aware of this!
I tried to learn more about the pair, and found this brief article. It says in part:
Southern rock icons Johnny & Donnie Van Zant talk to Brandon Woolum about their first Christian album Always Look Up releasing November 22nd, how the album came to life, the possibility of touring the project, future Van Zant albums, and more.
Van Zant have reunited and returned to the studio for what will be their first new album in nearly two decades. Titled Always Look Up, the album will also mark the duo’s first foray into Christian music, while holding firm to their southern rock roots. Available on CD, vinyl and streaming, Always Look Up will be available everywhere November 22, 2024 from Frontiers Music SRL. https://www.ccmmagazine.com/media/southern-rock-icons-johnny-donnie-van-zant-talk-new-christian-album/
I then found this earlier music video of theirs, “Jesus Christ”:
As to the old Lynyrd Skynyrd group, some of you might still enjoy some of their tunes. Here are just three classics from the original band, not long before that fateful plane crash:
And just as a quick side note: Billy Powell was a classical pianist before joining the band.
If I learn more about the Van Zant duo, I will let you know. Praise God for old rockers getting redeemed! It blesses my heart big time.
And by the way, Charlie Daniels, who died in 2020, was also a Christian. As he said in this interview:
I made a profession of faith when I was very young. I was just a kid, and I drifted away from it. I never quit believing. I never have denied my faith in Jesus Christ but I never understood what it meant. No matter how much money, celebrity, none of that impresses God. The only thing that impresses Him is: I believe Your Son died for my sins. I believe that You forgive me of my sins, and I believe that when I step over the line, Your Word says You’ll forgive me if I confess them… I believe every word in the Bible is true. I’ve learned the 91st Psalm. It’s a Psalm of protection. I’ve learned it. I can say it because I travel so much. https://cbn.com/article/not-selected/charlie-daniels-outlaw-and-saint
And in a 2018 interview we read this:
Tony: Tell me something about your faith.
Charlie: I have been a believer all my life. I came from a Christian family but if you have read the book then you have followed my yearning phase and that was the hardest chapter for me to write. I knew what I wanted to say but I wanted everybody else to understand it too. I was always a believer but to my understanding of what the Gospel message was, why Jesus had to die for me and all the attendant things to that. It was not a Damascus road experience, it was a bit by bit, little by little, understand a little more type thing. There was no real time line, it was and still is ongoing.
Tony: At the time you recorded “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” did you have a full understanding of your faith?
Charlie: I had the faith, I just did not understand it. If you read the book you’ll know that a lot of churches that I went to when I was a kid preached either condemnation or was very lackadaisical – that’s the wrong word – and it was finding what it was all about, why. I always believed Jesus died for my sins but I didn’t know why, why did he, how did that make the difference? Nobody would explain that to me and I finally decided some years later that I’m going to read the Bible for myself, I’m going to make my own decisions about this and I’m going to decide for myself what this is all about. And that’s what I did. It was an awakening, it didn’t all just happen at one time, it was a gradual kind of thing.
I still pray daily for other old rockers, be it Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, or Paul McCartney. You might join me in praying for these folks as well.
4 Replies to “Lynyrd Skynyrd, Southern Rock, and the Gospel”
Yeah Bill, van Zandt came up in my iTunes feed about a year ago. I too made the connection with the name. I thought wow, Christians pop up all over, always a pleasant surprise!
Many thanks Steve.
Yes, we should pray for these old ‘rockers’ as what a witness they give the world if/when they do come to Christ. I loved the songs ‘Awesome God’ and ‘Jesus Christ’ so thank you Bill, made my day.
Yeah Bill, van Zandt came up in my iTunes feed about a year ago. I too made the connection with the name. I thought wow, Christians pop up all over, always a pleasant surprise!
Many thanks Steve.
Yes, we should pray for these old ‘rockers’ as what a witness they give the world if/when they do come to Christ. I loved the songs ‘Awesome God’ and ‘Jesus Christ’ so thank you Bill, made my day.
Thanks Lynette.