Jimmie Van Zant (December 22 1957 – April 7, 2016) He was named after his mother's current husband at the time, Jim Nightingale; When his mother married Alfred Kelsay in 1970 he was adopted soon after at the age of 12 and his surname was changed to Kelsay. He was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, the son of E. C. Van Zant (E.C. Van Zant was Lacy's brother. Lacy was Ronnie's father) who was the cousin of musicians

Donnie Donnie or Donny is a familiar form (hypocorism) of the masculine given name Donald, Donal, Don, or Donovan. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Donny Baldwin, American drummer best known as a member of Jefferson Starship and Stars ...

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

, and

Ronnie Van Zant Ronald Wayne Van Zant (January 15, 1948 – October 20, 1977) was an American singer, best known as the original lead vocalist, primary lyricist and a founding member of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He is the older brother of current ...

. He adopted his father's name, Van Zant when he went into music. He began playing guitar and piano as a child, mentored by his cousin Ronnie Van Zant, but largely gave up music until the 1977 plane crash in which Ronnie, the founder and lead singer of

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

, was killed. Biography, Jimmie Van Zant
Retrieved 27 May 2016 Jimmie Van Zant then took up a career playing

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

music, and performed at festivals and

Harley Davidson Harley may refer to: People * Harley (given name) * Harley (surname) Places * Harley, Ontario, a township in Canada * Harley, Brant County, Ontario, Canada * Harley, Shropshire, England * Harley, South Yorkshire, England * Harley Street, in Lo ...

shows before recording the albums ''The Jimmie Van Zant Band'' (1996) and ''Southern Comfort'' (2000).Biography by Heather Phares, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 27 May 2016 Discography, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 27 May 2016 He toured widely with his band, performing over 200 shows each year, and released a third album, ''Feels Like Freedom'', in 2012. His wife Zohra often performed with him. He died in a hospice in Florida in 2016, aged 59, after several years of treatment for

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

. "Jimmie Van Zant has passed away in hospice care", ''The Daily Planet'', April 7, 2016
Retrieved 27 May 2016

References

1956 births 2016 deaths Musicians from Jacksonville, Florida Deaths from liver cancer {{US-rock-musician-stub