An A-list ensemble of electric guitar heroes and music heavyweights joined forces at last night’s CMT Music Awards show to pay tribute to the late Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist, Gary Rossington.
As reported late last week, the CMT Rossington tribute was headed up by Slash, Warren Haynes and Billy Gibbons, who sought to emulate the Southern rock outfit’s triple entente of six-string action with the help of a handful of guest vocalists as they performed a medley of the band’s biggest hits.
Paul Rodgers, Cody Johnson, LeAnn Rimes and Wynonna Judd assumed vocal duties, with longtime Rolling Stones touring keysman Chuck Leavell also making an appearance.
Since 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the band’s debut album, (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), Slash and co kicked off with a track from the 1973 effort, Simple Man, for which Johnson and Rodgers shared lead vocal duties.
Layering up the emotive progressions of the verses, the Gibson Les Paul-wielding duo of Slash and Haynes took turns to embellish proceedings with plenty of pentatonic licks in between vocal lines, with Gibbons getting involved with some tasty turnarounds of his own via the fretboard of his Red Devil Fender Stratocaster as the cover reached its peak.
Towards the end of their two-minute take of Simple Man, Haynes can be seen switching from his own Les Paul to a red Fender Stratocaster – a more apt sonic choice for the ensemble’s second Skynyrd track, Sweet Home Alabama, for which the Allman Brothers star took the lead.
Slash’s humbuckers proved a potent partner to Haynes and Gibbons’ single-coil antics, instilling the twangy track with plenty of beefy licks before the trio were each given eight bars to let loose on a quick-fire guitar solo.
Members of the Lynyrd Skynyrd family were in attendance for the show, including Rossington’s wife and band backing singer Dale Krantz Rossington. Some of Skynyrd’s touring operation was also present, including singer Johnny Van Zant.
Rossington passed away early last month at the age of 71. His passing prompted an outpouring of tributes from a huge range of musicians and guitarists.
The band served up their own tribute to Skynyrd's founding guitarist with a touching rendition of Tuesday's Gone during their first performance after Rossington's passing.
Elsewhere on the CMT Music Awards show bill, Gary Clark Jr. paid tribute to blues guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan with a blazing cover of The House Is Rockin’ from the fretboard of what looked like a charcoal flame burst Gibson ES model.
