On October 20, 1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington broke both of his arms, wrists, legs, ankles and his pelvis when a plane carrying the band to a concert ran out of fuel and crashed in a field near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Three of his bandmates died in the crash, along with their tour manager and both pilots.

Five years after the tragedy, Rossington and his wife Dale were visiting Yellowstone National Park when a late-May snowstorm forced them to extend their stay. They fell in love with the area and bought a ranch on the Elk Refuge in Jackson.

In an interview with Planet Jackson Hole, Rossington recalled the story.

"It was 1982 and it was the weekend of [Old] West Days. Well, God must have put us there because the weather stopped and we had a great weekend. It was then we fell in love with Jackson. We bought land, built a house, and had two daughters here and raised them here," he told PJH before the band played Jackson's Centennial Celebration in 2014.

Rossington is still rockin' at 65, the last of the original Skynyrd members. When he's not on the road, he splits time between Wyoming and Atlanta. One of his two granddaughters was named Jackson and also lives in the area with her mother and sister.

Last year, Gary and Dale released a critically-acclaimed album called "Take It On Faith". As a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Rossington-Collins Band, he has sold over 68 million albums and continues to perform to sold-out crowds all over the world.

 

 

 

 

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