Shinedown lead singer Brent Smith, who had covered the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic ‘Simple Man’ with his band, this time had a chance to perform the song with its original band. Smith shared the stage with Skynyrd at the Nashville concert of the act. While introducing Brent Smith to the crowd, Johnny Van Zant expressed how happy they were to have the singer on stage with them.
“This next guest, these guys, his band, they’re from Jacksonville, Florida, by the way — where Lynyrd Skynyrd’s from,” said Van Zant, drawing attention to the two bands’ connection of coming from the same city. Later, the vocalist continued sharing his thoughts on Shinedown’s cover of their hit track ‘Simple Man.’
Johnny explained, praising the band and Smith with kind words, “And they did this song so great. When we were thinking about doing this show, I said, ‘Man, we’d love to have him.’ Y’all give it up for our good buddy… Y’all give it up for Mr. Smith from Shinedown.”
In a previous interview with Metal Hammer, Brent Smith revealed that their Lynyrd Skynyrd cover was one of the most memorable songs from the band’s catalog because Ronnie Van Zant’s widow Judy and their daughter Melody had helped them to propel their career during their early days. So, Shinedown members wanted to show their gratitude for them by covering ‘Simple Man.’
