Steve Holland, founding guitarist with Molly Hatchet, dies

Steve Holland, founder and former guitarist with Jacksonville-based Southern rock band Molly Hatchet, died Sunday.

Holland was the last surviving member who played in the classic lineup that produced the band’s first two albums, 1978’s “Molly Hatchet” and 1979’s “Flirtin’ with Disaster,” both of which were certified platinum.

Holland was 66. He died Sunday in Brunswick, Ga., of undisclosed causes.

Holland posted a video to fans on Feb. 23 on the Facebook page of Gator Country, the band he formed about 15 years ago with other former Molly Hatchet members. “Hey, y’all. Thanks for all your wishes and prayers and stuff. Love you. Thanks for putting up with me all these years. Turn it up!” 

Holland was born Feb. 22, 1954, in Dothan, Ala., and moved to Jacksonville in the early 1970s. He formed Molly Hatchet with fellow guitarist Dave Hlubek soon after. He played on the band’s first five albums, leaving after the release of 1983’s “No Guts … No Glory.” He is credited as a co-writer on some of the band’s biggest hits, including “Bounty Hunter,” “Whiskey Man” and “Gator Country.”

Molly Hatchet rose to popularity in the years immediately following the plane crash that sidelined fellow Jacksonville Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd for a decade. The band featured a triple-guitar lineup, with Holland sharing duties with Hlubek and Duane Roland. The classic lineup of the band also included singer Danny Joe Brown, bass player Banner Thomas and drummer Bruce Crump. 

John Pappas, a longtime friend, said Holland chose to leave Molly Hatchet in 1984 when it became more of a business than a band. “He decided he had enough of the cutthroat atmosphere and it wasn’t fun any more, so he retired,” Pappas said.

He later led the Steve Holland Band and played on and off with the Southern Rock Allstars and Gator Country. He made his home on St. Simons Island, where he found sobriety in 2009 and became an every-Sunday church goer. A few days before his death, Pappas said, Holland thanked him for helping to find the Lord.

“I said Steve, God was never lost, it was you,” Pappas said. 

Funeral  arrangements have not been finalized.