Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Johnny Van Zant and guitarist Garry Rossington admitted the struggle behind performing “Free Bird.”

The Tribute road trip happened in 1987, 10 years after Ronnie Van Zant passed away in a plane crash.

“I didn’t want to do that tour at all,” Van Zant told Classic Rock in a new interview. “We had fans out there who would go, ‘Well, this ain’t the real Skynyrd.’ And I didn’t want to hurt the name of Lynyrd Skynyrd. What changed my mind? I walked into a conference room and I seen Billy [Powell], Leon [Wilkeson], Artimus [Pyle] and Allen Collins, all those guys, sitting at a table, wanting to do this. And I went, ‘Hey, I gotta at least try. Ronnie would want me to try.’”

Read the full story on Ultimate Classic Rock.