Co-founder of southern rockers Molly Hatchet, Danny Joe Brown, has died in Florida of complications from pneumonia at the age of 53.

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Brown, who sang and co-wrote some of the band's biggest hits from the late 1970s, died Thursday at his home, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel said Tuesday.

In 1975 Brown co-founded Molly Hatchet, a hard-rocking six-piece ensemble with three lead guitarists inspired by the boogie and blues of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Brown quit Molly Hatchet in 1980, citing exhaustion, put out a solo album and then rejoined the group in the 1980s.