Skynyrd's Gary recovering after heart attack

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gary Rossington is recovering at home after suffering a heart attack.

The guitarist – who’s the band’s last remaining original member – underwent surgery and his family asked fans via a Facebook post to pray for him.

Also on Facebook, the band have issued an update which says Rossington, 63, is expected to make a full recovery. However, two shows have been cancelled as a result.

Skynyrd say: “As Gary recuperates after suffering a heart attack late last week, the band regrets to announce that they’ll be cancelling two upcoming performances. Full refunds are available at points of purchase for Friday’s show in Terre Haute, IN, and the Mt Pleasant, MI, show will be rescheduled in 2016.

“Gary is currently resting at home with his family and is expected to make a full recovery.”

Rossington’s daughter Mary Elizabeth broke the news of her father’s condition in a post on the Ronnie Van Zant Facebook fan page. She said: “They went in to repair and unclog the two stents they did previously in the year which had a blood clot, added a third stent to one vein and in two weeks we will need to go in to do a fourth stent in one of his bypassed veins from 12 years ago.

“We were very close to losing him this time and just pray that they will develop even better techniques soon to deal with heart disease.”

Skynyrd are next scheduled to appear live at the Alabama National Fair in Montgomery on November 7. They released live package One More For The Fans in July.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.