Guitarist Gary Rossington passes away at age of 71

Washington: Guitarist Gary Rossington, the last remaining original member of US rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died on Sunday, the band said. He was 71.

Rossington was a founding member of the Southern rock group best known for the 1974 song "Sweet Home Alabama."

"It is with our deepest sympathy and sadness that we have to advise, that we lost our brother, friend, family member, songwriter and guitarist, Gary Rossington, today," the band wrote on Facebook.

"Gary is now with his Skynyrd brothers and family in heaven and playing it pretty, like he always does," it added.

The band did not announce a cause of death, but Rossington had suffered a series of heart problems, including undergoing emergency heart surgery in 2021, according to a post from the group at the time.

Rossington was born in 1951 in the southern state of Florida, founding the first iteration of Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1964 with drummer Bob Burns and bassist Larry Junstrom. (AFP)