Happy Birthday Donnie Van Zant

Donald Newton ‘Donnie’ Van Zant, better known as Donnie Van, is an American rocker and guitarist. The country musician and former lead singer of the rock band ‘38 Special’, Donnie is the brother of Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Van Zant—the lead singer of ‘Lynyrd Skynyrd’, who was killed in a plane crash. Donnie, along with his younger brother, Johnny, also performs as ‘Van Zant’. Johnny Van Zant is currently the lead singer of the ‘Lynyrd Skynyrd’, while Donnie became the lead vocalist of ‘38 Special’. The duo recorded their first song in 1980’s for ‘Van Zant’. However, they disbanded for a while. In 1998, they came together again as ‘Van Zant’, and recorded two albums. Donnie is a part of ‘38 Special’ since 1974. However, in 2013 it was announced by the members of the band that due to health issues, Van wasn’t able to perform for six months, and might not be able to perform with the band in future as well. Donnie agreed to write and record music for the band, but unfortunately his health only deteriorated with time, and finally in late 2013, he decided to bid goodbye to the southern rock band.