Peter Frampton Makes CMT Awards Appearance Amid Muscle Disease Battle

Peter Frampton Makes CMT Awards Appearance Amid Muscle Disease Battle,Legendary singer-songwriter and guitarist Peter Frampton made a rare appearance at the 2023 CMT Music Awards Sunday night. Four years after announcing he'd been diagnosed with inclusion body myositis, a degenerative muscle disorder, Frampton took the stage at the awards show in Austin, Texas to [...]

Peter Frampton Makes CMT Awards Appearance Amid Muscle Disease Battle

Legendary singer-songwriter and guitarist Peter Frampton made a rare appearance at the 2023 CMT Music Awards Sunday night. Four years after announcing he’d been diagnosed with inclusion body myositis, a degenerative muscle disorder, Frampton took the stage at the awards show in Austin, Texas to introduce a tribute performance to the late Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd, who passed away in March at the age of 71.

As he took the stage, the British-born musician, 72, told the crowd, “I’m here tonight to honor a dear friend and tourmate who we lost very recently.” Frampton called Rossington, who was the last original member of the iconic rock band, “a southern rock icon and an original founding member of our beloved group, Lynyrd Skynyrd.” He continued, “Alongside Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins, Gary not only helped define the band’s sound, he inspired millions of fans and musicians. He’s now joined his fellow Skynyrd bandmates in rock and roll heaven, but we will all enjoy their music forever.” Frampton added that Rossington’s wife, Dale, and daughter, Mary, were in attendance, along with Rickey Medlocke, Ronny Van Zant’s widow, Judy, and his granddaughter, Arayah.

2023 CMT Music Awards – Show — (Photo: Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images for CMT)

Following the introduction, Cody Johnson, Billy Gibbons, Paul Rodgers, Slash, Chuck Leavell, Warren Haynes, Wynonna Judd, and LeAnn Rimes took the stage to lead the tribute. The group of musicians performed Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” and “Sweet Home Alabama,” in tribute to Rossington, who died at his home in Milton, Georgia on March 5. His cause of death has not been disclosed at this time.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight backstage after the introduction, Frampton said the star-studded lineup was “all my favorites.” He added that the performance was “fantastic. How could it not be?”

Frampton’s Sunday night appearance came four years after he announced his retirement from touring in February 2019. At the time, Frampton shared that he was diagnosed with inclusion body myositis, a degenerative muscle disorder. He told Rolling Stone at the time that he had privately been battling muscle issues for the past eight years, but did not seek treatment until four years prior after he fell onstage while trying to kick a fan’s beach ball. Frampton revealed of the disease, “it wouldn’t just affect my legs and my arms, but it’s going to affect my fingers. That was the most troubling thing, obviously, for me.” He added, “I want to record as much as I can in the shortest space of time… In a year’s time, I might not be able to play. Right now, it’s progressing but I’m still at the top of my game. We decided to do a farewell tour now since I don’t want to go out and not be able to play well. If I’m going to do a farewell tour, I want to play good. I want to rock it.”

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