Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant has had an emergency operation to remove his appendix. Van Zant was treated at the Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California, on Thursday last week after seeing a doctor earlier in the day, who discovered that the singer's appendix was inflamed. Manager Ross Schilling said the frontman "had been feeling bad the past couple of days. He had performances Tuesday and Wednesday and sucked it up last night as far as performing with some pain."
The emergency surgery forced the group to cancel three US tour dates over the weekend, and Van Zant is not expected to make the Academy Of Country Music Awards, tomorrow, where he and his brother Donnie are nominated as Duo Of The Year in their capacity as Van Zant.