Bob Burns, Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer, killed in car crash
Bob Burns was co-founder of popular 70s Southern rock band
Bob Burns, centre, formed Lynyrd Skynyrd in the mid-’60s in Jacksonville, Fla. with Gary Rossington, Larry Junstrom, Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins. He died in a car crash on Friday. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty)
The former drummer and a founding member of the Southern hard rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, Robert Burns Jr., died late Friday in a single-vehicle crash in Georgia, police and his father said.
Burns’ vehicle went off a road just before midnight as it approached a curve near Cartersville, striking a mailbox and a tree, Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman Tracey Watson said. Burns, 64, was killed in the wreck. He was not wearing a seatbelt.
The single-vehicle accident remains under investigation, and Watson said further details were not immediately available.’I just remember Bob being a funny guy. He was just so funny, he used to do skits for us.’— Founding bandmember Gary Rossington
Burns was one of five musicians who founded the band in Jacksonville, Florida. While Burns was with the group, it recorded Sweet Home Alabama, Gimme Three Steps and Free Bird. He left the group in 1974.
He continued to play for fun or in guest appearances nationally, said his father, Robert Burns Sr. Early on, the group played in the Burns’ family garage."
"He was a product of his mother, so far as manners is concerned," the elder Burns said. "He had the manners that would suit the King of England. Very soft-spoken and extremely well-mannered person to come out of that kind of industry."
Burns formed Lynyrd Skynyrd in the mid-’60s in Jacksonville, Fla. with Gary Rossington, Larry Junstrom, Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins.
"Today I’m at a loss for words," Rossington posted on the band’s Facebook page. "I just remember Bob being a funny guy. He was just so funny, he used to do skits for us and make us laugh all the time, he was hilarious!"
Rossington said the band was in Jacksonville yesterday and he decided to stop by the Burns’s old house where they used to practice.
"My heart goes out to his family and God bless him and them in this sad time. He was a great great drummer."
Burns left the band in 1974.
Source: Bob Burns, Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer, killed in car crash – Arts & Entertainment – CBC News