Johnny Van Zant did not want to perform ‘Free Bird’ live until one moment.
In a new video Zant shared on his social media platforms, the rocker explained that he didn’t want to sing their most popular hit unless Gary Rossington asked. He said:
“I think one of my favorite things about ‘Free Bird’ was whenever I joined with the band back in ’86, ’87, I did not sing ‘Free Bird.’ My brother Ronnie wrote the song and he was the singer. I said, ‘You know what? I think I wanna hear the crowd sing it.’ They knew the lyrics.”
This almost made Rossington not join the band on stage unless Zant sang ‘Free Bird.’ He continued:
“I’d always leave the stage and the band would take the stage, Gary was back there and he was like, ‘I’m not going out tonight.’ I say, ‘What do you mean you’re not going out?’ He said, ‘Listen, not unless you sing ‘Free Bird.” And I said, ‘You know what? I don’t really wanna do it I kinda have hogged around about it.’ He looked at me and said, ‘Your brother was the singer and the songwriter, he would want you to sing this song.’ And I went back out that night, singing this.”
Is Lynyrd Skynyrd Sick Of Playing ‘Free Bird’?
Bands might get bored after playing their most popular hits on stage constantly. But Rickey Medlocke is not one of these rockers. In an interview with UCR, the rocker explained why he never gets sick of playing hit songs live:
“It’s just a beautiful song. And I never get tired of playing it. In fact, you know, a lot of people say, ‘Don’t you ever get tired of playing ‘Free Bird’ or ‘Alabama’ or whatever?’ And I’m like, ‘No, because they’re great songs.’ And when we stand up there, it just makes people — it gives people a lot of happiness and a lot of joy, and I love that. You know what I mean? I really do.”
In an earlier interview, Rossington too talked about their hit song. He said he never got sick of playing it and the crowd makes it feel brand new every time they play it live.
You can see the snippet of the interview here.