During a recent appearance on Rock & Review with Eric Dahl, Rickey Medlocke claimed Gary Rossington paid him with a candy bar for his place in Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The host mentioned to Medlocke that Rossington was the person who persuaded him to rejoin the band in 1996. The guitarist went on to reveal the backstory of his return, explaining:
“Yes, it all started with a great big celebration of ‘Freebird… The Movie’ premiere in Atlanta, culminated by him calling me up, and leaving me a message that was really interesting. This is back when you had the message machine with the tape in it.”
Rossington’s Words In The Message
Revealing what Rossington had said in the message, he continued:
“He left me a message. He goes, ‘Hey brother Rickey. This is Gary. I want you to learn ‘I Ain’t the One,’ ‘Saturday Night Special,’ ‘That Smell,’ and ‘Freebird.’ And I’m gonna come down to down to Florida, and I’m gonna audition you, and if you pass the audition, I’ll give you $150 in a Snickers bar.'”
A Promise Fulfilled
Medlocke then disclosed how the late rocker stayed true to his words, noting:
“So many years later, and this is true. Many years later, we had just finished the show, and we got on the bus and up on the counter of the galley; there up on the counter, there was something lying there. I looked, and it said, ‘Rickey.’ And I looked, and it was a 150 and a Snickers bar wrapped together, and the note on it said, ‘Paid in full.'”
Medlocke Discusses The Band’s Path Forward
The musician returned to Skynyrd in 1996 and has remained a part of the band ever since. In an August chat with Laura Steele from The Fox about what’s next for the band, Medlock thanked the fans for their support and discussed the uncertainty of the band’s future after Gary’s passing. The fans’ pleas for the band to continue greatly influenced their decision to keep going. He noted:
“So we’re going to keep this going for as long as we can, and the way I look at if the Rolling Stones could do it, we can do it.”
Lynyrd Skynyrd is teaming up with ZZ Top for a tour across 36 cities in North America in 2024. The ‘Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour’ starts in Savannah, Georgia, on March 8 and ends in Ridgefield, Washington, on September 22.
You can watch his full interview below.
