By Alan Sculley
Last Word Features

When Lynyrd Skynyrd arrived at Ryman Auditorium in November 2022 for a concert that was going to be filmed and has since been shown in select theaters nationwide and released on DVD, the veteran band’s core members — guitarist Gary Rossington, singer Johnny Van Zant and guitarist Rickey Medlocke, along with a guest performer for that evening, former 38 Special singer and Van Zant’s brother, Donnie Van Zant — had something of a full-circle moment before taking the stage.

“One of the really cool things was that Gary, Johnny, myself and Donnie, we had this small little dressing room,” Medlocke shared in a phone interview. “We kept laughing about how it reminded us of the real old days when you had these little dressing rooms and all of these people in them. You couldn’t hardly turn around and get dressed. We kept laughing about it. It was like the brothers in there sharing a moment.”

That show turned out to be the final performance by Rossington with Lynyrd Skynyrd, and it’s captured in “The 50^th Anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd.”

The last remaining original member of the band, the guitarist died in March 2023 after having for years soldiered through a myriad of injuries and health problems, including heart conditions that had required major surgeries, a pacemaker and multiple stents.

Rossington’s death hit Medlocke hard. He was actually in the early lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1971 to 1972 — as the drummer — before departing to start his own band, Blackfoot, and had grown close to Rossington since rejoining Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1996.

“I mean, you don’t spend that long of a time with a guy that all of a sudden something happens that you’re not really, you’re hit square in the face with it,” Medlocke said.

But for now, Lynyrd Skynyrd is moving forward, having been told by Rossington’s wife, Dale, that Rossington wanted the band to continue bringing music to the loyal fans.

Lynyrd Skynyrd, with guest 38 Special, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Ford Amphitheater, 95 Spectrum Loop, in Colorado Springs. Tickets start at $42.50 and are available at fordamphitheater.live and axs.com.

“I know there have been a lot of people who have been, ‘Oh, you guys, why don’t you call it a day and da-da-da-da?’” Medlocke said. “But really, in essence, it’s all about the music and the fans love the music. You know, Gary knew, he didn’t want that music to just kind of fade off into classic rock radio and fade off into sub-stational Sirius-XM or whatever.”