Van Zant Biography
Originally formed in the late 90s as a one-off collaboration between brothers and southern rock legends Johnny Van Zant (27 February 1959, Jacksonville, Florida, USA; vocals) and Donnie Van Zant (b. 11 June 1952, Jackonsville, Florida, USA; vocals), the critical and commercial reaction to Van Zant's debut album Brother To Brother enabled this "side-project" to continue into the new millennium as a fully-fledged concern. Johnny had already experienced various degrees of fame during the 80s as vocalist with his own Johnny Van Zant Band and then the re-formed Lynyrd Skynyrd. The latter, one of southern rock's most venerated acts, had originally been led by his late brother Ronnie Van Zant. Donnie, meanwhile, remained a member of the long-serving 38 Special, who reached their commercial peak in the late 80s with the US Top 10 ballad "Second Chance". Johnny and Donnie finally found time in their busy schedules to fulfil a long-held desire to record an album together, teaming up with an excellent group of session musicians in the late 90s to complete the recording of their debut album as Van Zant. Released in 1998 on the CMC International label, Brother To Brother was a typically solid collection of southern rock, as would be expected from two seasoned performers. Although not intended to be an ongoing concern, the brothers enjoyed the recording of the album so much they decided to continue working as Van Zant. A follow-up appeared in 2001, with instrumental back up again provided by a sterling group of session players including guitarists Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jerry McPherson. In contrast to their work on the first two albums, the brothers veered towards the country market with their third recording, 2005's Get Right With The Man. The move proved a successful one with the album, the first for Columbia Records, debuting at number 2 in the US country album charts, and the single "Help Somebody" reaching the Top 10. They repeated the formula on the 2007 follow-up My Kind Of Country.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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