38 Special (often stylized as .38 Special or spelled out as Thirty-eight Special) is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1974 by singer-guitarists Donald Newton "Donnie" Van Zant (born June 11, 1952) and Richard Donald "Don" Barnes (born December 3, 1952).

They are known for their hit songs including "Hold On Loosely" and "Caught Up in You" among various other top 40 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 during the 1980s and early 1990s. The other songs include "Fantasy Girl", "Rockin' into the Night", "You Keep Runnin' Away", "If I'd Been the One", "Back Where You Belong", "Teacher, Teacher", "Like No Other Night", "Second Chance", and "The Sound of Your Voice".

History

1970s

Donnie Van Zant is the younger brother of Lynyrd Skynyrd co-founder and frontman Ronnie Van Zant. Donnie began playing music during his teen years. He formed a band, the Other Side, in 1965, and later Sons of Satan which changed its name to Standard Production in 1968. In 1969 he formed his first professional group, Sweet Rooster, with guitarists Jeff Carlisi (from Doomsday Refreshment Committee) and Kevin Elson, drummer Bill Pelkey, and Standard Production's bassist Ken Lyons. Carlisi left Sweet Rooster after graduating from high school to study architecture at Georgia Tech and was replaced by Don Barnes, from a fellow band called Camelots, in 1970. Sweet Rooster evolved into Alice Marr with Van Zant, Barnes, Elson, Pelkey, bassist Larry Steele and keyboardist Billy Powell, who soon moved on to being a roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd before joining them as their pianist.

In the meantime, Van Zant, Barnes and Lyons, while continuing to work their day jobs as well as their musical careers, began composing original songs. By 1974, they decided to form "the ultimate band" that would be their "one last shot" at success. Briefly, Van Zant was considering a higher-paying position for the railroad at which he worked, but was finally convinced by brother Ronnie to stick with music since it was "in his blood".

The new group consisted of Van Zant, Barnes, Steele (who dropped out almost immediately, to be replaced by Lyons, later returning as the group's stage manager), drummer Brookins (who had played with Van Zant in Sons of Satan), second drummer Jack Grondin (a New Jersey native who was attending Jacksonville University at the time) and a returning Carlisi. The band's name was thought up after an incident which found the boys practicing in a warehouse out in the middle of nowhere. When police arrived after being notified by locals of the noise, the band members were unable to come out because of a padlock on the door. One of the cops said, "That's all right. We'll let this .38 special do the talking", and shot off the lock. Though Jeff Carlisi insists this story is false and was created for early marketing.

Now that they had their name, the group spent most of 1975 and 1976 playing a steady grind of one-nighters, mostly in the South and the Midwest. Eventually, big brother Ronnie, who had hooked the boys up with Phil Walden's Paragon Booking Agency, who had worked with Skynyrd, figured Donnie and the gang had paid enough dues and set them up with Skynryd's manager Peter Rudge, who also handled the Who and was tour manager for the Rolling Stones. Rudge quickly set the group up to open shows for popular acts such as Peter Frampton, Foghat and Kiss, and got them signed to A&M Records, who assigned Dan Hartman (of Edgar Winter Group fame) to produce their first album, 38 Special, which was released in May 1977. This shift helped to usher in a string of successful albums and singles. Engineer Rodney Mills, who had worked with Atlanta Rhythm Section and others, assumed the producer's reins, and Survivor co-founder Jim Peterik became a frequent songwriting collaborator with the band from 1979 on, which helped account for this change in sound and subsequent success.

"Rockin' into the Night", the title track from the group's third album, which Peterik and his bandmates had originally written for Survivor, found its way to 38 Special's manager, Mark Spector (who'd left his job at A&M Records to manage the group), and was given to the band. Sung by guitarist Don Barnes (who would sing lead vocals on most of the band's hits through 1987), the tune became their first song to receive national airplay, peaking at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1980. Also, on September 27, 2008, they filmed a CMT Crossroads special with country singer Trace Adkins, performing both artists' hits from over the years. In 2009, 38 Special opened for REO Speedwagon and Styx as part of the "Can't Stop Rockin' Tour".

Van Zant missed a handful of shows in 2011, and in 2012 a notice was posted on 38 Special's website saying Donnie Van Zant would not tour with the band due to health issues related to inner-ear nerve damage, although he would continue to write and record with the band. In 2013, after nearly a year of missing performances, Van Zant officially left 38 Special after 39 years and retired from music.

In 2012, original bassist Ken Lyons died at age 59.

In 2022, bassist Paul Drennan filled in for Barry Dunaway.

On July 11, 2025, the band announced they were releasing their first album in 21 years, titled Milestone. This announcement was accompanied by the release of the album's first single "All I Haven't Said".

Band members

Current members

  • Don Barnes – lead and backing vocals, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, piano <small>(1974–1987, 1992–present)</small>
  • Bobby Capps – keyboards, backing and lead vocals <small>(1991–present)</small>
  • Gary "Madman" Moffatt – drums, percussion <small>(1996–present)</small>
  • Barry Dunaway – bass, backing vocals <small>(2014–present; touring substitute 2011, 2013)</small>
  • Jerry Riggs – guitar, backing vocals <small>(2019–present)</small>

Touring musicians

  • Carol Bristow – backing vocals <small>(1977–1987)</small>
  • Dale Krantz Rossington – backing vocals <small>(1977–1979)</small>
  • Nancy Henderson – backing vocals <small>(1979–1980)</small>
  • Lu Moss – backing vocals <small>(1981–1984)</small>
  • Lynn Hineman – backing vocals <small>(1986–1987)</small>

Touring substitutes

  • Donny Baldwin – drums, percussion <small>(1996; filled in for Scott Hoffman)</small>
  • Paul Drennan (Drennen) – bass, backing vocals <small>(2022; filled in for Barry Dunaway)</small>

Former members

  • Donnie Van Zant – lead and backing vocals, occasional guitar <small>(1974–2013)</small>
  • Jeff Carlisi – lead guitar <small>(1974–1997)</small>
  • Jack Grondin – drums, percussion <small>(1974–1991)</small>
  • Steve Brookins – drums, percussion <small>(1974–1987)</small>
  • Ken Lyons – bass <small>(1974–1977; died 2012)</small>
  • Larry Junstrom – bass, occasional guitar <small>(1977–2014; died 2019)</small>
  • Steve McRay – keyboards, harmonica, backing vocals <small>(1986–1987)</small>
  • Max Carl – lead and backing vocals, keyboards, guitar <small>(1987–1992)</small>
  • Danny Chauncey – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards <small>(1987–2019)</small>
  • Scott Meeder – drums, percussion <small>(1991–1992)</small>
  • Scott Hoffman – drums, percussion <small>(1992–1997)</small>

Lineups

{| class="toccolours" border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 style="float: width: 375px; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid #E2E2E2;" width=99%

|-

! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1974–1977

! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1977–1986

! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1986–1987

! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1987–1991

|-

| valign=top |

  • Don Barnes – guitar, mandolin, keyboards, harmonica, backing vocals
  • Donnie Van Zant – lead vocals, guitar
  • Steve Brookins – drums, percussion
  • Jeff Carlisi – guitar
  • Jack Grondin – drums, percussion
  • Ken Lyons – bass

| valign=top |

  • Don Barnes – lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, keyboards, harmonica
  • Donnie Van Zant – lead vocals, guitar
  • Steve Brookins – drums, percussion
  • Jeff Carlisi – guitar
  • Jack Grondin – drums, percussion
  • Larry Junstrom – bass, guitar

| valign=top |

  • Don Barnes – lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, keyboards, harmonica
  • Donnie Van Zant – lead vocals, guitar
  • Steve Brookins – drums, percussion
  • Jeff Carlisi – guitar
  • Jack Grondin – drums, percussion
  • Larry Junstrom – bass, guitar
  • Steve McRay – keyboards, harmonica, backing vocals

| valign=top |

  • Donnie Van Zant – lead vocals, guitar
  • Jeff Carlisi – guitar
  • Jack Grondin – drums, percussion
  • Larry Junstrom – bass, guitar
  • Max Carl – lead vocals, keyboards
  • Danny Chauncey – guitar, backing vocals

|-

! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1991–1992

! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1992–1997

! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1997–2013

! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 2013–2014

|-

| valign=top |

  • Donnie Van Zant – lead vocals, guitar
  • Jeff Carlisi – guitar
  • Larry Junstrom – bass, guitar
  • Max Carl – lead vocals, keyboards
  • Danny Chauncey – guitar, backing vocals
  • Scott Meeder – drums, percussion

| valign=top |

  • Don Barnes – lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, keyboards, harmonica
  • Donnie Van Zant – lead vocals, guitar
  • Jeff Carlisi – guitar
  • Larry Junstrom – bass, guitar
  • Danny Chauncey – guitar, backing vocals
  • Bobby Capps – keyboards, vocals
  • Scott Hoffman – drums, percussion

| valign=top |

  • Don Barnes – lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, keyboards, harmonica
  • Donnie Van Zant – lead vocals, guitar
  • Larry Junstrom – bass, guitar
  • Danny Chauncey – guitar, backing vocals
  • Bobby Capps – keyboards, vocals
  • Gary Moffatt – drums, percussion

| valign=top |

  • Don Barnes – lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, keyboards, harmonica
  • Larry Junstrom – bass, guitar
  • Danny Chauncey – guitar, backing vocals
  • Bobby Capps – keyboards, vocals
  • Gary Moffatt – drums, percussion

|-

! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 2014–2019

! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 2019–present

|-

| valign=top |

  • Don Barnes – lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, keyboards, harmonica
  • Tyler Greer – guitar, backing vocals
  • Bobby Capps – keyboards, vocals
  • Gary Moffatt – drums, percussion
  • Barry Dunaway – bass, backing vocals

| valign=top |

  • Don Barnes – lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, keyboards, harmonica
  • Bobby Capps – keyboards, vocals
  • Gary Moffatt – drums, percussion
  • Barry Dunaway – bass, backing vocals
  • Jerry Riggs – guitar, backing vocals

|}

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

  • 38 Special (1977)
  • Special Delivery (1978)
  • Rockin' into the Night (1979)
  • Wild-Eyed Southern Boys (1981)
  • Special Forces (1982)
  • Tour de Force (1983)
  • Strength in Numbers (1986)
  • Rock & Roll Strategy (1988)
  • Bone Against Steel (1991)
  • Resolution (1997)
  • A Wild-Eyed Christmas Night (2001)
  • Drivetrain (2004)
  • Milestone (2025)

Notes

References

  • 38 Special live photo gallery