Lynyrd Skynyrd dedicated a pair of recent performances of their 1974 smash, “Sweet Home Alabama”, to their former guitarist Ed King following his passing on August 22 at the age of 68.
Video has surfaced online of the southern rockers playing the song co-written by King, co-founder and singer Ronnie Van Zant and lone surviving original member, guitarist Gary Rossington, from an August 24 show in Syracuse, NY and an August 25 set in Burgettstown, PA.
Alongside “Free Bird” as the group’s signature songs, “Sweet Home Alabama” was the second single from Skynyrd’s 1974 album, “Second Helping”; the tune reached No. 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while the project hit No. 12 on the Billboard 200 on its way to sales of more than 2 million copies in the country.
“It is with great sorrow we announce the passing of Ed King who died at his home in Nashville, Tennessee on August 22nd, 2018,” read the statement released on the guitarist’s Facebook page. “We thank his many friends and fans for their love and support of Ed during his life and career.”
While the cause of King’s death has not been revealed, recent media reports out of Nashville indicate the rocker was battling lung cancer and had been hospitalized for the disease.
A member of the Los Angeles psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock, King joined Skynyrd in 1972 alongside Rossington and Allen Collins to present a triple-lead guitar package that defined the group’s sound.
King exited the lineup in 1975 before returning for a 1987 reunion of the members who survived the infamous October 1977 plane crash near Gillsburg, MS; he was forced to leave Skynyrd in 1996 due to congestive heart failure but was among the band’s members inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2006.
See also:
Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Ed King dead at 68
Lynyrd Skynyrd announce Live In Atlantic City release
Lynyrd Skynyrd documentary to premiere on Showtime
Lynyrd Skynyrd extend farewell tour
Search Lynyrd Skynyrd at hennemusic
