The band was formed as the Austin Nichols Band in 1977 and became the Johnny Van Zant Band (due to copyright issues) when it was signed by Polydor Records.
The band, featuring Johnny Van Zant, Erik Lundgren, Robbie Gay, Danny Clausman and Robbie Morris, recorded three albums for Polydor: [m=381947], [m=323173] and [m=867151].
The band later shortened his name in Van-Zant and recorded (with the same line-up) [m198952] for Geffen Records. Johnny Van Zant is a live show recorded by the band just after the release of the Geffen record.