Lynyrd Skynyrd won't be saying farewell from the road after all.
They were heading into the first part of their Last of the Street Survivors tour before the pandemic struck and had previously announced some make-up dates earlier this spring. Now they've decided to add 13 more shows and rename the trek The Big Wheels Keep on Rollin' tour. Those shows, which are scattered from August through November, go on sale Friday.
The band posted a video on YouTube explaining the change of heart, with guitarist Gary Rossington saying, "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."
The pandemic had a direct impact on Skynyrd singer Johnny Van Zant, as he and his older brother, former38 Special singer Donnie Van Zant, and their wives, contracted the coronavirus earlier this spring.