The musical dynasty known simply as Van Zant built its foundation firmly on family, and considering Donnie is a co-founder of .38 Special and Johnny took over leading the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd after the passing of their brother Ronnie, fame has frequently followed.
But throughout their four decades of climbing the Southern rock and country charts together and separately, faith has stayed just as important a factor in the equation — so much so that the guys finally shared their inspirational side on Always Look Up, which was released by Frontiers Music on November 22, 2024.
The highly anticipated and entirely original album marked their return to creating new music together, and from the start, it’s clear their unbreakable bond and creative chemistry remain. After all, they're not only brothers, but best friends and next-door neighbors who practically collaborate on a daily basis.
“This had been on our bucket list for quite some time — to do a gospel record,” explains Donnie of the sessions that began during the pandemic. “We're both big believers in Jesus Christ, so that’s really how it started. Johnny had time off. I’ve been actually retired from .38 Special for quite some time because of inner ear nerve damage hearing-wise, but we had just a great time.”
“I think that this one probably means more to us than what we've done in the past and it's very different,” adds Johnny. “It's probably not what people may expect from us, which I think is kind of cool. There's stuff that's real pop and commercial. There's stuff that's heavy with Christian lyrics and values. Me and Donnie have got a saying that if we touch one person with this music, our mission for Jesus Christ is done.”
Fans of Christian radio and straight-up rock and roll alike are sinking their teeth into Always Look Up, which takes its title from Johnny’s weekly online message to fans and has since become a saying regularly shared within the Lynyrd Skynyrd community. Given the tumultuous times in America and across the world, it's a reminder to always do exactly that, serving as a soundtrack of hope and healing so desperately needed at this very moment.
“We've been so low that the only place we could go is to look up,” Johnny laughs, before diving deeper into the group’s goals. “I hope they find Jesus, because I think now more than ever we need Him. A lot of crazy stuff is going on in our world, and we need to come together as children of Christ and figure this out. We're not preachers by no means and we'll never be preachers. I can honestly say that I learn something about the Bible every day…”
In spite of their enormous successes — including .38 Special’s more than 20 million album sales and Lynyrd Skynyrd continuing to sell out arenas and amphitheaters — much of what makes Van Zant so relatable is the fact they'll be the first to admit their flaws and struggles.
“We all sin, definitely. When you talk to the Van Zant brothers, we haven't been perfect that's for sure,” confesses Donnie with a hearty laugh, before reflecting on his forced retirement from the road. “When I came off the road with .38 Special, I had to come off. I had inner ear nerve damage and it doesn't come back. It only gets worse if I do stupid things and it was a very quick decision of telling them, ‘I just can't do this no more.’ I can't handle the volume of a rock band. I would go completely deaf. So it took me a long time, it took me a good few years just to sort of realize what I was doing. All I can say is I have the most beautiful yard in the world!”
“I'll be honest with you, the devil was my best friend at one time,” concurs Johnny. “I'm not gonna lie about that and there ain't too much that I didn't try over the years, but I always kept hearing our dad speaking the Bible in my mind. Our dad should've been a preacher, because boy when he started talking the gospel, you didn't get up and move. Of course as kids, I think we listened to half of it and tried to consume what we could, so that was always in the back of my head. I always believed in Jesus Christ, but I wasn't saved and I felt like I had my personal connection, just like the song It's Up To You that's on this new album. Over the years, that voice of my dad was reminding me to try to be a better person. I made lots of mistakes, lots of things that hopefully I don't get to the pearly gates and they're closed for me. I'm trying to get through them now!”
Even though he's wholeheartedly walking the straight and narrow, there was still a point not too long ago when Johnny's beliefs were pushed and tested to the absolute maximum. Thankfully, it was Donnie who helped steer him back on course, resulting in a new song and eventually Johnny’s decision to become formally baptized.
“Six years ago I lost my daughter to the ‘c’ word — not COVID, but the other ‘c’ word that I refuse to say,” reveals Johnny. “My daughter was getting sicker and I was getting mad at God. I was just so mad at God, and Donnie looked at me and said, ‘don't you get mad at God!’ And at that point in time, I just remember a calmness coming over me and I went, ‘you know, he's totally right.’”
Continues Donnie: “We have a song called Awesome God and it was actually written in my mind about Johnny, and from that moment on, he sort of gave his life to Jesus and he became a Christian. God saved him. He got baptized and I could see the spirit of the Lord in his life. He sounded different to me. Again, as Christians, our job is to go out and to shout to the world with God's truth… We've actually got a song on the album called Warrior and the song reminds us that, as Christians, we need to fight for the Godly kingdom because we have Satan and he's there like a lion on the prowl, always trying to cause complete havoc. We need to be very vigilant, constantly aware and be warriors for God's work.”
Along those lines, the track Jesus Christ is amongst the project's heaviest and most vivid lyrical descriptions, speaking about the crucifixion and resurrection, inspired by a painting hanging in Johnny's Sulfur Water Studios, which split recording locations with John Albani's Sonic Eden Studios.
While these sessions have primarily been a family affair, they also included contributions from longtime Skynyrd confidant Mark “Sparky” Matejka, plus songwriters Carl Lindquist and Blair Daly, the latter of whom contributed to Praying, one of Donnie’s personal favorites.
“Praying is a song about a person that's done very well in life, but has something missing and realizes that you can have everything monetary-wise, but if you don't have Jesus, you have nothing, you know? We've tried our very best to just write about truth, about people, about problems and situations, and just try to be true to ourselves. We don't write nothing that's b.s. We try to touch people emotionally and spiritually. If we can do that, I think we've done our jobs.”
Echoes Johnny: “Our parents were very common, hard working people. We weren't rich. We were rich in family. Our dad was a truck driver and our mom was a homemaker. At any given time in their life, they never had any more than twelve-hundred dollars in the bank with six kids. What kind of pressure were they under just to make ends meet? But we never went without. We didn't have the best stuff in the world, but we had food, we had clothes, we had heat, and we had air conditioning once we got a little older. We didn't come from wealthy backgrounds and I think that's kept us grounded… When you ask what we would want our legacy to be, I think that we were good, hard working, God-fearing people. Ronnie was the master of writing for the common people — the hard working and God-fearing people. We just try to carry on his legacy. He was the one who started this, Donnie came in and kicked butt and I've been tagging along for years (laughs). Hey, you know what, when it's all said and done, hopefully they were some good old southern boys!”
Or perhaps even more appropriately, “Wild-Eyed Southern Boys” born “Southern By The Grace Of God,” who ever since they got saved, Always Look Up no matter what…
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