Johnny Van Zant
Johnny Van Zant (born February 27, 1959 in Jacksonville , Florida , USA ) is an American rock and country singer. He is the younger brother of former Lynyrd Skynyrd front man Ronnie Van Zant and 38 special singer Donnie Van Zant .
Life
Van Zant was already active as a musician at the age of 15. He began his first musical steps as a drummer , but then decided to pursue a career as a singer. His brother Ronnie thought he had the best voice in the family. With his first band, the "Austin Nickels Band", he played in many bars around his home in Jacksonville, Florida. His brother Ronnie supported the band. When Ronnie was killed in a plane crash in 1977, Donnie tried to support his younger brother. The death of Ronnie Van Zant and other members of the band made him the heir to Lynyrd Skynyrd.
It wasn't until 1980 that Van Zant recorded his first album. The first album entitled "No More Dirty Deals" was released under the name "Johnny Van Zant Band". Johnny's tribute to his brother Ronnie can be found here with the song “Standing in the Darkness”.
The "Johnny Van Zant Band" recorded two more albums with the titles "Round Two" (1981) and "Last of the Wild Ones" (1982). As a result, the band moved to the larger record label Geffen Records , where they recorded "Van Zant" in 1985. Although Van Zant's career was successful, he noticed a change in southern rock. In order not to have to change his music, he withdrew from the music scene and spent a few years as a trucker. He came back with the support of the resurrected Lynyrd Skynyrd. He became the singer for a tribute tour and stayed afterwards as a permanent member of the band. Although some critics saw this as a kind of desecration of the grave of Ronnie Van Zant, he proved his qualities as a singer and songwriter in the following years .
Van Zant recorded the record "Brickyard Road" in 1990, but put his solo career on hold in favor of "Lynyrd Skynyrds".
In 1998 Van Zant recorded the CDs "Brother to Brother" and "Van Zant II" with his brother Donnie. In 2007 the two brothers Donnie and Johnny Van Zant released the album "My Kind Of Country" under the name "The Van Zants", which is more likely to be assigned to the country rock genre.
Web links
- Johnny Van Zant on allmusic.com
- Johnny Van Zant on lastfm.de
- Johnny Van Zant on discogs.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Bruce Eder: Johnny Van Zant - Artist Biography on allmusic.com, accessed November 30, 2014.
- ↑ The Van Zants ( Memento of the original from January 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on thevanzants.com, accessed November 30, 2014.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Van Zant, Johnny |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rock and country singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 27, 1959 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jacksonville (Florida) , USA |