BIOGRAPHY

Bob Burns, born Robert Lewis Burns Jr. on November 24, 1950 in Jacksonville, Florida, was an American musician, best known as the original drummer for the Southern rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd (1964-1974), and playing drums on such hits "Free Bird" and "Sweet Home Alabama".
Burns helped form Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1964 along with Gary Rossington and Larry Junstrom. He remained with the band until 1974.
Bob Burns played on all of Lynyrd Skynyrd's early demos, recorded in 1970, but on the album Skynyrd's First and... Last, the drum parts of the songs recorded in 1971 are played by Rickey Medlocke. That album also contains songs recorded in 1972 which feature Burns on drums. In the early 1970s, Rickey Medlocke occasionally played drums alongside Burns for a number of live shows; a two-drummer line-up similar to The Allman Brothers Band.
Burns played drums on Skynyrd's first two official albums: (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) and Second Helping. Burns left in 1974 due to being overwhelmed by life on the road, and was replaced by Artimus Pyle. In 1996, he participated in a performance to promote Freebird: The Movie. On March 13, 2006, he rejoined Lynyrd Skynyrd for one performance as he played alongside Gary Rossington, Billy Powell, Ed King, Artimus Pyle and the Honkettes at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Bob Burns died on April 3, 2015 in a single car crash after hitting a mailbox and tree on a sharp curve in Bartow County, Georgia; he was 64 years old.