Celebrity Graveland

June 22, 1949 – October 5, 2019

Larry “LJ” Junstrom met Ronnie Van Zant when the two were teenagers in Jacksonville, Florida. When Van Zant (along with Bob Burns, Gary Rossington and Allen Collins) wanted to form a band, Junstrom eagerly joined on bass. The band would become legendary rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd. LJ played with Skynyrd throughout the early years, but left in 1971, just prior to the recording of their first album…and their subsequent stardom. Fortunately for him, another Van Zant would also end up looking for a bass player a few years later.

In 1977, Junstrom joined fellow Jacksonville southern rock outfit, .38 Special, which was fronted by Ronnie Van Zant’s younger brother, Donnie. .38 Special would go on to find its own success in the early 1980s, releasing huge hits like “Caught Up In You” and “Hold On Loosely.” Junstrom played with .38 Special for nearly 4 decades until an injury forced him to retire in 2014. He died in 2019 at the age of 70. Both .38 Special and Lynyrd Skynyrd paid tribute to the “Big Man on the Big Bass” following his passing.

Burial

Jacksonville Memory Gardens – Jacksonville, FL

Specific Location

Enter the cemetery and stay to the right around the large circle drive. Stay to the right until you see a series of benches on your righthand side. Larry is buried behind one of these benches just past a nearby tree.

This entry was posted on June 6, 2022 at 9:31 am and is filed under Jacksonville Memory Gardens with tags 38 Special, Jacksonville Memory Gardens, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Musicians. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.