Gary Robert Rossington was born on 4 December 1951, in Jacksonville, Florida USA, and is a musician, probably best known to be one of the founders of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, in which he plays rhythm and lead guitar. All of his efforts have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Gary Rossington? As of mid-2016, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $40 million, mostly earned through a successful career in the music industry now spanning over 50 years. Aside from Lynyrd Skynyrd, he also founded The Rossington-Collins Band. He is the last original member still with Lynyrd Skynyrd, and all of these have ensured the position of his wealth.
Gary Rossington Net Worth $40 million
At a young age, Gary was very interested in baseball, and even aspired to go pro to become a New York Yankee. As he grew up, he started listening to The Rolling Stones and then decided to pursue a music career. He formed a band during his teens called “The Noble Five” which included Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns, Larry Junstrom, and Allen Collins. They later changed their name to “The One Percent” before settling with “Lynyrd Skynyrd”. In 1973, they started getting national attention with their first album and the song “Free Bird”.
Rossington had a 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar he named Berniece in honor of his mother. He began touring with the band, but in 1976 he was involved in a car accident as he was driving under the influence of alcohol. Due to the accident, their tour was postponed and Rossington was fined $5000 dollars – the events of the crash are re-told in the song “That Smell”. The following year, the band was involved in a plane crash that took the lives of Van Zant, Cassie Gaines, and Steve Gaines. Rossington along with six other band members survived though he sustained fractures to all limbs and his pelvis. After recovering, he would start playing again, despite having rods in his arm and leg. In the next few years, he would battle with drug addiction which had started with dependence on medication after the crash.
In 1980, he founded the Rossington Collins Band with Allen Collins, and they released two albums in the next two years. After Collins’ wife passed away, they disbanded and it led to the formation of The Rossington Band, which would release two albums in 1986 and 1988. In 1987, surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd started performing together once again, and the band is still active today. After Billy Powell passed away in 2009, Rossington is the only original member still with the reformed band.
For his personal life, Gary married Dale Krantz in 1982, and they have two daughters. He has had heart problems that required surgery; in 2015 he suffered a heart attack that caused two Lynyrd Skynyrd concerts to be cancelled, and he still experiences leg pains as a consequence of the 1977 plane crash. He often uses Gibson Les Pauls and a Gibson SG during his performances. He’s also fond of Peavey amplifiers and Fender guitars. Aside from that, he is a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
