Lynyrd Skynyrd announce farewell tour

Rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd will embark on their final tour later this year (18).
The band has announced the Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour will kick off on 4 May (18) in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was founded in 1964 as My Backyard, before the band members settled on the permanent name five years later. Tragedy struck the group in 1977, when Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines were killed in a plane crash. The group went on a hiatus after their deaths, but reformed in 1987.
“It’s hard to imagine, after all these years, the band that Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins and myself started back in Jacksonville, would resonate for this long and to so many generations of fans,” guitarist Gary Rossington says. “I’m certain they are looking down from above, amazed that the music has touched so many.”
“We’ve been blessed by these great songs and the messages they carry to the fans,” lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant adds. “It’s been a true honour to try and fill in my brother’s footsteps for the past 31 years, keeping the music and his spirit alive.”
No reason has been given for the group’s decision to call it a day but the band scrapped a show in Florida in November (17) to allow guitarist Rossington to recover from a “medical emergency”.
The exact cause of the medical issue is still not known, but 65-year-old Rossington has had multiple heart procedures after suffering a heart attack in October, 2015.
Rossington is the only founding member of the band still performing with Lynyrd Skynyrd.