Original Lynyrd Skynyrd Drummer Dies Due to a Car Crash

Robert Lewis Burns Jr., the original drummer of rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died in a car accident on Saturday, TMZ reports. He was 64.

According to police, Burns swerved off the road and crashed into a tree and mailbox. He was not wearing a seatbelt, and police do not believe that drugs or alcohol were involved.

From a report by Huffington Post, lead guitarist Gary Rossington took to the official Lynyrd Skynyrd Facebook page to confirm the news and remember his former bandmate:

"Well, today I'm at a loss for words, but I just remember Bob being a funny guy. He was just so funny, he used to do skits for us and make us laugh all the time, he was hilarious!

Ironically, since we played Jacksonville yesterday. Dale, my daughter and I, went by the cemetery to see some of the guys in the band and my parents grave sites. On the way back, we went by Bob Burns old house, it was there in the carport where we used to first start to practice with Skynyrd. My heart goes out to his family and God bless him and them in this sad time. He was a great great drummer."

Burns was the original drummer for the band, and was a member from the 1960s to the mid-1970s.

Lynyrd Skynyrd lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and vocalist Cassie Gaines were killed in a 1977 plane crash.