Jim Breur
In 2018, Southern Rock icons, Lynyrd Skynyrd, announced that, after a career that has spanned more than 40 years and includes a catalog of more than 60 albums with more than 30 million units sold, they would embark on their Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour. Produced by Live Nation, the career-concluding farewell tour logged over 50 stops by the end of 2018.
In 2019 Johnny Van Zant, Gary Rossington, and Rickey Medlocke sat down with Dan Rather for a candid conversation on The Big Interview during the first leg of their farewell tour. Reflecting on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s enduring legacy and their fans around the world, Rossington told Rather, “It takes a long time to finish a farewell tour when you’re like us, ‘cause we’ve played everywhere… I keep jokin’ it’d take ten years to do the farewell tour.”…
However, like many things since COVID hit last year, their Farewell tour has been put on pause. Lead singer, Johnny Van Zant said, ‘this past year has been very difficult on so many people, including us and our families. I think you realize once something is taken away from you, you truly realize how important it is and such a part of your life.’
Original member and guitarist Gary Rossington added, ‘you know, we were in the last part of the Farewell Tour when COVID turned our world upside down. And since that time, we have been talking amongst the band, and realized that music has such a way of healing. Maybe it’s not our time to go? And maybe it’s our time to lift people’s spirits and lives and bring back some joy and happiness after so much turmoil this past year. This country and the world have been through a lot this past year with COVID. We’re still standing, still keeping the music going. We want to do the guys who aren’t with us any more proud, and keep the name proud, too.”
The legendary rockers are best known for the RIAA Platinum-certified “Sweet Home Alabama” and self-proclaimed signature song, “Free Bird,” that Rolling Stone said was “easily the most requested live song in existence.” With everlasting hits such as “Simple Man,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “What’s Your Name,” “Call Me The Breeze,” “You Got that Right,” and more, it is easy to see why Rolling Stone named Lynyrd Skynyrd one of its 100 Greatest Bands of All Time.
Lynyrd Skynyrd, the band that USA Today called the “whiskey-soaked genre’s most popular and influential crew,” is ready to return to live music and rock Billy Bob’s for the first time as a band. Original member Gary Rossington will be joined by Johnny Van Zant, Rickey Medlocke, Mark “Sparky” Matejka, Michael Cartellone, Keith Christopher, Peter Keys, Dale Krantz Rossington, and Carol Chase.
DIAMOND-selling superstar Brian Kelley is marking a new era with his patriotic salute, “American Spirit,” as his first solo release with Big Machine Records. Currently hosting a 20-date SURF POST SESSIONS’ SECOND WAVE OF SUMMER residency at Tribe Kelley Surf Post in Grayton Beach, FL – owned by the Ormond Beach native and his wife Brittney – he’s in the studio working on new music as well. Last making waves with SUNSHINE STATE OF MIND, which American Songwriter hailed, “It’s clear that Kelley is on his game, delivering some of the best modern country put to tape,” he also sold out audiences on his headline MADE BY THE WATER TOUR.
First known as the Florida half of the GRAMMY-nominated Florida Georgia Line, the ACM Breakout Artist of the Decade Award recipients have garnered 19 career #1 hits and are the first and only act to achieve two RIAA DIAMOND-certified singles in Country music history…
(11X PLATINUM #1s: “Cruise” and “Meant to Be” with Bebe Rexha). Notching 13.9+ billion global streams, selling more than 40 million tracks and 4.8 million albums worldwide, plus playing to over 4 million fans spanning massive arena and stadium headline tours, FGL has been honored by AMA, Billboard, CMA, and CMT Music Awards, with their Florida Georgia Line: Mix It Up Strong exhibit open through 2023 at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Further diversifying his thriving enterprise, Kelley spearheads creative projects like MAY WE ALL: A NEW COUNTRY MUSICAL with his production company CuzBro Productions, and a partnership with Oyster City Brewing Company. In addition, his collaborations with Brittney include cult-favorite brand Tribe Kelley and limited NFT collection, Chill Cowboy Country Club (CCCC).
Select few professionals are possessed of the skill, passion and sheer tenacity to break record after record in their chosen field. Fewer still can stake that claim in more than one arena.
To millions of music lovers, Ted Nugent has carved a permanent place in rock & roll history selling more than 40 million albums, performing more than 6,750 high-octane concerts, and continuing to set attendance records at venues around the globe.
To further millions, Nugent is the nation’s most outspoken proponent of our 1st and 2nd Amendment rights, conducting thousands of pro-gun, pro-freedom, pro-America interviews in major media worldwide. He serves as National Spokesperson for Hunter Nation, uniting hunters to protect our American values of God, family and country. Nugent is dedicated to preserving our great outdoor heritage for future generations. To that end, he founded the Ted Nugent Kamp for Kids in 1989. Both Ted & Shemane Nugent regularly host hunts for sick and terminally ill children with Hunt of a Lifetime, Hunt for a Cure, and via their own Kamp.…
A recipient of myriad commendations from state police, sheriff departments, FBI and police agencies, Nugent has been lauded for his work with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Pass It On Outdoor Mentors Program. He proudly serves as Ambassador for Exodus Place, advancing the goal of “zero veteran homelessness in Michigan” and works with Operation Finally Home to provide quality, mortgage-free housing for our wounded and disabled vets.
Ted was honored with the prestigious James Fenimore Cooper Award for his accomplishments as a writer, and for his enormous contributions to the promotion of our hunting & outdoor heritage. He is a New York Times bestselling author, whose books include Ted, White & Blue: The Nugent Manifesto; God, Guns & Rock ‘n’ Roll; Kill It & Grill It; BloodTrails and BloodTrails 2.
Ted Nugent was named Detroit’s Greatest Guitar Player of All Time by readers of MLive. His award-winning Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild television show recently celebrated its 500th episode. The Ted Nugent Spirit Campfire Podcast launched in 2020, and has already established a worldwide following.
Two-time ACM New Female Vocalist nominee RaeLynn continues to carve her unique lane in Country music with her gift for storytelling through songwriting, accented by a one-of-a-kind, electric personality. She released multiple new songs in 2022 including “I Love My Hometown,” “If God Took Days Off” and “Raisin’ Me A Country Girl,” which will only add to her nearly 855 MILLION total career streams. Her 2021 full-length album BAYTOWN has earned over 100 MILLION global streams and is the full expansion of her 2020 EP of the same name, which scored high-profile features with PEOPLE, American Songwriter, and Entertainment Tonight and was lauded as “a confident, joyous effort” (Billboard) that’s “equally tender-hearted and fiercely fun” (Tennessean). BAYTOWN followed RaeLynn’s widely praised debut WILDHORSE which arrived at #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and was recognized among the best Country albums of 2017 by Rolling Stone, UPROXX and Stereogum. She recently joined Kane Brown’s BLESSED & FREE TOUR and has previously shared the stage with Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, and Blake Shelton.…
Newly signed to Jonas Group Entertainment for management, RaeLynn has both GOLD (“Love Triangle”) and PLATINUM (“God Made Girls”) singles to her name and nearly 2.5 MILLION followers across her engaging online platforms. Her star continues to rise after becoming the first Country face to represent the global beauty brand Too Faced and making her acting debut in Hallmark Channel’s A Nashville Christmas Carol.