Few bands have ever been forced to overcome as much tragedy and adversity as Lynyrd Skynyrd. Taking their name from Leonard Skinner, a gym coach at the high school the original members attended — and a man known as a strict disciplinarian given his disdain for boys with long hair — the group helped define the entire genre known as Southern Rock. In the process, they set the standard for dozens of other similarly inclined outfits that would follow.
After a number of early personnel changes, the classic lineup — singer Ronnie Van Zant; guitarists Gary Rossington, Allen Collins and Ed King; bassist Leon Wilkeson; and keyboardist Billy Powell — went on to inscribe their name in the annals of rock history with early anthems such as “Sweet Home Alabama,” famously written in answer to Neil Young’s vitriolic “Southern Man.” And then there's “Free Bird,” seemingly one of the most requested concert songs of all time.
Skynyrd recorded five studio albums during that initial phase of their career: (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-’nérd ‘Skin-’nérd) (1973), Second Helping (1974), Nuthin’ Fancy (1975), Gimme Back My Bullets (1976) and Street Survivors (1977). The band’s career careened to a stop after their chartered plane crashed while on tour, killing Van Zant, new guitarist Steve Gaines, Gaines’ sister and backup singer Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot John Gray, and causing serious injury to those who managed to survive. That date, October 20, 1977, is forever inscribed as one of the darkest days in modern music history.
After taking time to heal, and following an initial incarnation as the Rossington Collins Band, and later, simply the Rossington Band, Skynyrd reformed 10 years after the plane crash with Ronnie’s brother Johnny at the helm. Guitarists Rossington and Rickey Medlocke — who played with the band in their initial incarnation prior to forming his own band, Blackfoot — then took up the Skynyrd banner along with
