Donald "Ean" Evans (September 16, 1960– May 6, 2009) was an American musician who was the bassist for

southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

band

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...

from 2001 until his death. He joined the band following the death of

Leon Wilkeson Leon Russell Wilkeson (April 2, 1952 – July 27, 2001) was an American musician. He was the bassist of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 until his death in 2001. Early life Born on April 2, 1952, in Newport, Rhode Island, but rai ...

Life and career

Evans was born and raised in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He moved to

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Mississippi, Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the ...

after marrying his wife, Eva. He started in music at the age of five, playing trumpet and having an orchestral background until his teen years. Picking up the guitar at 15, he was soon playing the southeastern rock circuit with various cover groups. A few years later, he switched to bass so as to bring a fellow guitarist into the band. In the 1980s, he played bass for rock band Five Miles High, along with Mike Reynolds (drummer), Reuban Lace (guitarist), Carl Brown (keyboardist) and Del Stockstill (guitar). The group played venues from Georgia to Kentucky and all over the southeast. It was rated in the top 10 rock bands of the 1980s in a Mississippi radio station contest. Around 1983, FMH disbanded, and Ean returned to his native Atlanta. There, he welcomed his newborn daughter and worked on plans to form a new group with close friend and keyboardist Joey Huffman. This project quickly became the band Babe Blu (with former FMH members Carl Brown, Reuban Lace, and adding JT Williams on drums). Babe Blu immediately become a top draw in Atlanta and on the southeastern club and college circuit. However, in 1987, Ean left Babe Blu permanently to be home with his young family and to work on his own original compositions. He studied the styles and techniques of

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

(Led Zeppelin),

Geddy Lee Geddy Lee Weinrib (; born Gary Lee Weinrib, July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Rock music, rock band Rush (band), Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968 at the request o ...

(Rush) and

(Lynyrd Skynyrd), giving him an aggressive approach to the bass guitar. In 1988, he was picked up by his then personal manager,

Jay Jay French Jay Jay French (born John French Segall, July 20, 1952) is an American guitarist, manager, record producer and founding member of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. He is a columnist, author and motivational speaker who oversees licensing and i ...

of the then recently disbanded

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song ...

. Evans formed his first original band, Cupid's Arrow. They became quite popular in the Atlanta area. After composing and recording over 50 songs, Ean became a full-time studio musician. It was during this time he was called to join the Outlaws by leader Hughie Thomasson, who showed him worldwide touring experience. The Outlaws stopped touring when Hughie was called to join Lynyrd Skynyrd. In 1997, Evans and ex-

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

guitarist Rick Craig (1982–1988, 1997–2000) formed Noon, which blended metal with southern rock. They released one album in 2002 and many other unreleased recordings exist and are subject to release. In 2000, Evans and Craig joined an ad-hoc version of

Humble Pie Humble Pie are an English Rock music, rock band formed by Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton in Moreton, Essex, in 1969. They are known as one of the first Supergroup (music), supergroups of the late 1960s and enjoyed success in the early 1970s ...

formed by Charlie Huhn to fulfill touring obligations following an injury sustained by original Humble Pie drummer

Jerry Shirley Jeremy Duncan Tipson Shirley (born 4 February 1952), known professionally as Jerry Shirley, is an English rock drummer, best known as a member of the band Humble Pie (band), Humble Pie, appearing on all their albums. He is also known for his wor ...

. This version of the band contained no original members. Following the death of Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Leon Wilkeson, Evans joined the current lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd on August 11, 2001, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Death

In late 2008 Evans was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

, of which he died on May 6, 2009, at his home in

. An ailing Evans performed with Skynyrd one last time from a chair on April 19, 2009, at the Mississippi Kid Festival, organized in support of him. Lynyrd Skynyrd continued its 2009 tour with Robert Kearns on bass. He was followed by Johnny Colt from

The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes ten studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Geo ...

. Johnny Van Zant asked audiences to pray for Evans.

References

External links

Official websiteEvans' obit at UPIAP Obituary
in The Meridian Star {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Ean 1960 births 2009 deaths American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Deaths from lung cancer in Mississippi Lynyrd Skynyrd members Musicians from Atlanta Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state) American male guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Blues rock musicians