It’s possible that in the time it takes you to read this sentence, another beloved band of the classic rock generation will have announced its farewell tour. Musical titans ranging from Paul Simon to Slayer to Elton John have made recent visits to North Texas to say their goodbyes. Though of course, not all of them end up going away for good.
Chatting with Lynyrd Skynyrd lead singer Johnny Van Zant over the phone, however, it seems as though the iconic southern rock trailblazers might actually mean what they say: that their current “Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour” really will mark the end of Skynyrd’s run as a full-time touring band.
“We want to play everywhere Skynyrd has ever played before at least once, so we have a chance to say goodbye to the fans in those cities,” Van Zant, 59, says with a matter-of-fact plainness.
The declining health and advancing age of Gary Rossington, the last original Lynyrd Skynyrd member who’s still alive, has compelled the Florida-born collective to set forth a new operating plan for the future. There will be more Skynyrd appearances and more music — Van Zant says the group has recorded enough for a new record to come out not long after the tour finishes in 2020 — just no more major tours.
It’s a big change. For decades, fans have built their calendars around which Skynyrd shows they would catch in a given year. Talking about the bond between the band and their fans, Van Zant says his group is more or less “the Grateful Dead of the South, because we have so many people that will follow us and go to 25 or 30 shows every year.”
Presenting this final run of shows in such a bookend manner allows Skynyrd to “go out with our boots on and our guns blazing,” he adds.
He wants to see and feel the reactions from familiar crowds one last time. Although the group’s most cherished songs such as “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Free Bird” and “Simple Man” were written by his older brother, Ronnie Van Zant, who died in the 1977 airplane crash that also claimed the lives of several others, younger bro Johnny can’t help but feel a sense of ownership over the songs he’s been singing since the band regrouped in 1987.
“I honestly have never gotten tired of singing ‘Sweet Home Alabama,’ he says, “because every night I’m singing to different people. I’m a people-watcher. I love being at the airport and just seeing all the different people walking through, every kind of person there is, you know? I like watching our crowds and seeing them react when their favorite song starts. Grandparents, parents and kids, all reacting together to what we’re doing on the stage at that exact moment.”
The ill-fated 1977 flight still looms large over the band. And although Johnny has been the face of the group for much longer than his beloved older brother was, he knows there are still people who refuse to acknowledge him as Skynyrd’s true front man. To them, his answer is simple.
“I’ve never tried to be my brother, you know, and I’ve always felt that Skynyrd’s music is bigger than any single one of us in the band,” Van Zant says. “It’s about the songs and not about any one person. I know that when we’re all done and when we’ve all gone on to that big cloud in the sky, some kid down here years from now is going to say, ‘I want to learn how to play that ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ lick.’ Or a young singer will say, ‘Okay, let’s do ‘Free Bird.’’”
As the final months of the final tour take shape, Van Zant says it’s mostly about his being able to touch base with as many people as he can one last time.
“You know,” he offers. “I’m like an old mother hen, and I do worry about our fans. It’s just really hard to say goodbye.”
With the Allman Betts Band, Asleep at the Wheel on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. at American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave., Dallas. $27-$198. www.ticketmaster.com