Gary Rossington

Rossington was also an avid user of Peavey amplifiers, using their Mace combo amps, with the stock speakers replaced with JBL D120 speakers, during the recording of Gimme Back My Bullets up until the 2000s when he began using the Triple XXX and Penta heads. He eventually got his own signature amp in 2009, the Peavey Penta Gary Rossington signature head.
Rossington has used Gibson Les Pauls and a Gibson SG throughout his career. He is mostly seen playing a Les Paul in sunburst finish, but he can be seen playing a red SG with tremolo for the song Free Bird. He also uses a black finish Les Paul
He has experienced a heart problem in the past which was successfully addressed via surgery and occasionally experiences pain in his legs severe enough to force him to miss shows; this is an recurring ailment resulting from the 1977 plane crash
Gary Rossington and Dale Krantz-Rossington have had two daughters, Mary and Annie. Their side project, the Rossington Band, opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd during their 1987-88 reunion tour. The Rossington Band released the following albums: Returned to the Scene of the Crime, 1986 and Love Your Man in 1988
In 1980, Rossington co-founded The Rossington-Collins Band with Collins. The band released two albums, but disbanded in 1982 after the death of Collins' wife, Kathy. Rossington still plays in the current Lynyrd Skynyrd lineup. With the death of keyboardist Billy Powell on January 28, 2009, Rossington is now the only original band member left in the reformed band.
He battled with serious drug addiction throughout the next several years, partially as a result of his heavy dependence on medication taken during his recovery from the plane crash.
Rossington was one of six band members who survived the October 20, 1977 plane crash near Gillsburg, Mississippi that took the lives of Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and three others. Despite breaking both arms, both legs, both wrists, both ankles and his pelvis, Rossington would eventually recover from his injuries and play on stage again (albeit with steel rods in his right arm and one of his legs).
Rossington's instrument of choice was a 1959 Gibson Les Paul that he purchased from a woman whose boyfriend had left her and left behind his guitar. He named it "Berneice" in honor of his mother whom he was close to. Rossington has played lead guitar on "Tuesday's Gone" and the slide guitar for "Free Bird". Along with Collins, Rossington also provided the guitar work for "Simple Man".
Rossington formed the band "The Noble Five" as a teenager with friends Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Larry Junstrom and Bob Burns in the summer of 1964. They would later change the name of the band to "The One Percent" before becoming Lynyrd Skynyrd. Skynyrd gained national exposure starting in 1973 with the release of their first album (pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd) and hit single "Free Bird".
Gary Robert Rossington (born December 4, 1951, Jacksonville, Florida, United States) is an American musician, best known as a founding member of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He plays lead and rhythm guitar. He is also a founding member of The Rossington-Collins Band along with former Lynyrd Skynyrd bandmate, Allen Collins.