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Van Zant
Guest Artist
Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, brothers Donnie and Johnny Van Zant were raised by their truck driver father and their mother who worked at Dunkin' Donuts. At home their parents listened to Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, and Mel Tillis. It was their brother Ronnie who took another musical direction, finding fame as the front man for Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Although Ronnie died in a 1977 plane crash, the brothers have continued his musical legacy. Donnie founded .38 Special, one of the most popular Southern rock bands in the 1980s. Johnny headed a quintet on a 1985 album titled Van Zant. They disbanded, however, when Johnny joined Lynyrd Skynyrd as lead vocalist when the band reunited in 1987.
The Van Zant group name was revived in 1998 when Johnny and Donnie joined forces on what was slated to be a one-off collaboration titled Brother to Brother. Reaction to the record, however, was positive enough to convince the duo to continue pursuing the project. A follow-up titled Van Zant II was issued in early 2001. They signed to Sony Nashville in 2004. Their debut album, Get Right with the Man, was released in 2005 and produced the top 10 single "Help Somebody." My Kind of Country arrived in 2007.
Latest CD
My Kind of Country