Bob Burns

Robert Lewis Burns Jr. (November 24, 1950 – April 3, 2015) was an American drummer who was in the original lineup of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Biography Burns was born in Gainesville, Florida, on November 24, 1950. He helped to form Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1964 with Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins and Larry Junstrom and remained until 1974, although by some accounts he left the band for a while during the early 1970s. Burns played on the band's early recordings, but on the album Skynyrd's First and... Last, a collection of early demos made in Muscle Shoals, the drum parts of some songs recorded in 1971 were played by Rickey Medlocke. That album also contains songs recorded in 1972 which feature Burns on drums, suggesting that Burns left the band in 1971 and had returned by 1972. During a brief period in the early 1970s, Medlocke occasionally played alongside Burns on drums for live shows, a two-drummer lineup similar to the Allman Brothers Band and The Grateful Dead.

Burns with Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1973. Left to right: Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Leon Wilkeson, Ronnie Van Zant, Billy Powell, Burns, Ed King

In addition to Skynyrd's First and... Last, Burns played on the band's first two official albums: (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) and Second Helping.

After growing weary of touring Burns left Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1974.

In 1996, after years of public disappearance, he participated in a performance to promote Freebird: The Movie.

On March 13, 2006, he rejoined Lynyrd Skynyrd for one performance, playing alongside Gary Rossington, Billy Powell, Ed King, Artimus Pyle and The Honkettes at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. After that, he again disappeared from public attention, until his death.

Burns died on April 3, 2015, in a single-car crash after hitting a mailbox and tree on a sharp curve in Cartersville, Georgia, shortly after leaving his home.