Jimmie Van Zant (December 22, 1957 – April 7, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was named after his mother's current husband at the time, Jim Nightingale; When his mother married Alfred Kelsay in 1970 he was adopted soon after at the age of 12 and his surname was changed to Kelsay. He was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, the son of E. C. Van Zant. Jimmie was the cousin of musicians

Donnie Donnie or Donny is a familiar form (hypocorism) of the masculine given name Donald, Donal, Don, or Donovan. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Donny Baldwin, American drummer best known as a member of Jefferson Starship and Starsh ...

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John (given name), John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly ...

, and

Ronnie Van Zant Ronald Wayne Van Zant (January 15, 1948 – October 20, 1977) was an American singer, best known as the founding lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was the older brother of Johnny Van Zant, the cu ...

(E.C. Van Zant was Lacy Van Zant's brother. Lacy was Ronnie, Donnie, and Jonny's father). He adopted his father's name, Van Zant when he went into music. He began playing guitar and piano as a child, mentored by his cousin Ronnie Van Zant, but largely gave up music until the 1977 plane crash in which Ronnie, the founder and lead singer of

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 ...

, was killed. Biography, Jimmie Van Zant
Retrieved 27 May 2016 Jimmie Van Zant then took up a career playing

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 ...

music, and performed at festivals and

Harley Davidson Harley may refer to: People * Harley (given name) * Harley (surname) Places * Harley, Ontario, a township in Canada * Harley, Brant County, Ontario, Canada * Harley, Shropshire, England * Harley, South Yorkshire, England * Harley Street, i ...

shows before recording the albums ''The Jimmie Van Zant Band'' (1996) and ''Southern Comfort'' (2000).Biography by Heather Phares, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 27 May 2016 Discography, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 27 May 2016 He toured widely with his band, performing over 200 shows each year, and released a third album, ''Feels Like Freedom'', in 2012. His wife Zohra often performed with him. He died in a hospice in Florida in 2016, aged 58, after several years of treatment for

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

. "Jimmie Van Zant has passed away in hospice care", ''The Daily Planet'', April 7, 2016
Retrieved 27 May 2016

References

1956 births 2016 deaths Deaths from liver cancer in Florida Singers from Jacksonville, Florida {{US-rock-musician-stub