Family CD

Family showcases--for the first time--the biggest Lynyrd Skynyrd hits alongside the most popular tracks from the group’s extended family. Each of the 16 selections has been digitally remastered from the original master tapes. A musical family, the Van Zants have contributed three frontmen to the rock world and, between these three brothers and their circle of talented friends and comrades, they were -- and are -- the center of Southern rock. While Ronnie Van Zant fronted Lynyrd Skynyrd, he helped his kid brother Donnie, along with buddy Don Barnes to get their own band started, 38 Special. Following Skynyrd’s tragic plane crash in 1977, Gary Rossington formed the Rossington Collins Band with Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins. Allen later went on to front a band of his own. In 1987, when the time came for Lynyrd Skynyrd to reunite, Ronnie and Donnie’s youngest brother Johnny was tapped to be the frontman, which he remains today. Meantime, Donnie and Johnny also made some music of their own, under the band name Van Zant. In Family, alongside Skynyrd’s well-known “Gimme Three Steps,” “Free Bird,” “Sweet Home Alabama” and others are “What Can I Do” and “Take Me Back” from 38 Special plus treasures from Johnny Van Zant’s solo career, the Rossington Collins Band, the Allen Collins Band and Van Zant. Lynyrd Skynyrd began their career in 1973 with the release of pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd. In 2003, the band noted its 30th anniversary with the release of the new studio album Vicious Cycle and Thyrty, a double-disc hits collection that has since been certified platinum. Attesting to the band’s phenomenal and continual popularity, its “Sweet Home Alabama” won a gold award in 2005--as a digital single. To date, the band has sold more than 26 million albums. Also renowned as one of the hardest working groups, Lynyrd Skynyrd continues to perform hundreds of shows each year.