The rock group's original percussionist passed away in the single vehicle accident in Georgia, U.S. on Friday (03Apr15).

A spokesman for the Georgia State Patrol confirmed that Burns veered his car off the road and crashed into a mailbox, and that he wasn't wearing a seat belt.

Editors at TMZ.com report he was alive when the paramedics arrived but died at the scene.

Burns was part of the rock band's original line-up in the late 1960s and played on some of the its biggest hits, including Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird, before leaving the group in 1974.

Burns later joined the Artimus Pyle band, a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute act.