The group was discovered in Atlanta by Blood, Sweat And Tears founder Al Kooper in 1972 while he was scouting for new talent for his Sounds Of The South label. Signed for $9000, the group's ranks were swollen by the addition of Leon Wilkeson, who replaced Jungstrom on bass. Kooper produced the group's debut album, "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd", which also featured former Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King (originally standing in on bass for Wilkeson, who dropped out of the band for six months) and Billy Powell on keyboards. Their three-guitar line-up attracted a great deal of attention, much of it generated through support dates with The Who, and the combination of Blues, Honky Tonk and Boogie proved invigorating.
In the Summer of 1974, the group enjoyed their biggest US hit with "Sweet Home Alabama", an amusing and heartfelt response to Neil Young who had criticized the South in his compositions "Southern Man" and "Alabama". After the release of the album "Second Helping", drummer Bob Burns was replaced by Artimus Pyle. Their momentous anthem, "Free Bird" (a tribute to Duane Allman ), became their second Billboard Top 40 hit when it reached #19 in early 1975. The group were by now renowned as much for their hard living as their music, and Ed King became the first victim of excess when he retired from the band in May of '75. Van Zant's name was also regularly found in the newspapers through reports of bar brawls and confrontations with the law. The LP, "Gimme Back My Bullets" arrived in March of the following year, with production expertise from Tom Dowd.
In September 1976, Gary Rossington was injured in a car crash, while Steve Gaines became King's replacement. With their tally of Gold discs increasing each year and a series of sell-out tours, the band suffered an irrevocable setback in late 1977. On October 20th, Van Zant, Gaines, his sister Cassie (one of three backing singers) and personal manager Dean Kilpatrick were killed in a plane crash en route from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Rossington, Collins, Powell and Wilkeson were seriously injured, but all recovered. That same month, the group's new album, "Street Survivors", was withdrawn as the sleeve featured an unintentionally macabre design of the band surrounded by flames. A single from that LP, "What's Your Name", managed to climb to #19 in America.
The survivors, some of whom were temporarily crippled, physically as well as emotionally, reunited in January 1979 for a special appearance at Charlie Daniel's Volunteer Jam V where they performed an instrumental version of "Free Bird" as a eulogy for their lost comrades. Although Lynyrd Skynyrd was no longer performing as a band, its members continued to work together. First, guitarist and co-founder Gary Rossington, along with guitarist Allen Collins, bassist Leon Wilkeson and pianist Billy Powell formed the Rossington-Collins band which released two albums in the early 1980s and toured extensively. When Rossington-Collins broke up, Rossington and his wife, singer Dale Krantz, moved to Wyoming and recorded and performed as a duo while Collins started The Allen Collins Band. Collins' band included Wilkeson and Powell. "There might not have been a Lynyrd Skynyrd, but some of us never stopped working together," said Wilkeson. "I guess the reunion was inevitable."
On January 29, 1986, Allen Collins was involved in a car accident that claimed the life of his girlfriend, Debra Jean Watts. The crash paralyzed him from the waist down, leaving him with limited use of his arms and hands, and he would never play guitar on stage again as a result of his injuries. He would later plead no contest to vehicular manslaughter as well as driving under the influence of alcohol. Collins died on January 23, 1990, from chronic pneumonia, a complication of the paralysis.
In 1987, the tenth anniversary of the airplane crash brought up the thought of a tribute concert. Once the decision to do it was made, the survivors invited Ronnie's Van Zant's younger brother Johnny, an accomplished recording artist in his own right, to provide lead vocals. "Originally, we were just going to do one show," Johnny explained, "But then that became a week's worth of dates, then a full-fledged tour and then, thanks to the overwhelming support of old and new fans, the next thing I know, I'm in the band full time." It's was an emotional experience for the talented singer whose resemblance both vocally and visually to his older brother was obvious. "In the beginning I was scared," Johnny admitted, "but over the years I've come to peace with it, and I think Ronnie's proud of what we're doing today." On "Twenty", his tribute to his lost brother, is a duet of "Travelin' Man", featuring the original master of Ronnie's lead vocal and Johnny's new studio vocal alternating verses, with the new line-up providing new studio music of the song.
When putting the band back together, Rossington, Van Zant, Wilkeson, Powell and Hale turned to some of the American Rock's finest guitarists, former Blackfoot founder/guitarist Rickey Medlocke, and Hughie Thomasson from The Outlaws. In the Summer of 1996, this new line-up broke records in amphitheatres across the country as they toured together for the first time. "The fan base is amazing," said Rossington. "The people who came to see it were parents our age with their kids. Some of their kids had kids old enough to be married. It was like there were three generations in the audience." Added Thomasson, "It proves to me that good Rock And Roll is timeless, that because this band has always stayed so true to themselves musically, their importance and influence will be endless." That is what was evident on their album called "Twenty", that this was a Lynyrd Skynyrd album.
They stayed true to their southern Blues roots. Skynyrd continued to appeal to an ever-expanding audience of '90s kids much in the same way they did to their parents back in the '70s. This appeal, claims Medlocke "...is because Lynyrd Skynyrd's music has always touched people. The passion that we all feel for making our music and for making it fun carries over into the audience. That always has been, always will be, Skynyrd's legacy. Good time Rock And Roll for always and for all."
Sadly, bass player Leon Wilkeson died in his sleep on July 28th, 2001, in a Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida hotel room, where he was taking a break from the group's tour. He was just forty-nine years old. The cause of death was not disclosed, but the band's management considered Wilkeson to have been in good health. Wilkeson's death proved a tough blow for a band that had already endured considerable loss. But Van Zant said Skynyrd again toughened its resolve and poured their energy into 2003's "Vicious Cycle", a popular studio album that yielded the radio hit "Red, White and Blue". In the Fall of 2004, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers Band teamed up for a successful U.S. tour, which continued into 2005. The original members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame on March 13th, 2006. They continued to appear across the United States until January 28th, 2009, when keyboardist Billy Powell died of a heart attack at the age of 56 at his home near Jacksonville, Florida. The remaining members vowed to soldier on, and on March 17th, 2009, it was announced that Skynyrd had signed a worldwide deal with Roadrunner Records and released their new album, "God & Guns" on September 29th of that year. They toured Europe and the United States with Peter Keys on keyboards and Robert Kearns of The Bottle Rockets on bass in place of Ean Evans, who died of cancer at age 48 on May 6th, 2009.
In addition to 2010's tour, Skynyrd appeared at the Sean Hannity Freedom Concert series in late in the year. Hannity, a popular U.S. radio host, had been actively promoting the "God & Guns" album, frequently playing portions of the track "That Ain't My America" on his show. The band continued to tour throughout 2011, playing alongside ZZ Top and The Doobie Brothers. Their 2012 tour, with only Gary Rossington of its original members remaining, included shows in America as well as a swing through Europe in June.
In September, 2015, the band announced that their upcoming new live CD/DVD, "Pronounced 'Leh-'nerd 'Skin'nerd & Second Helping - Live From Jacksonville at the Florida Theatre" was set for release on October 23 via Eagle Rock entertainment. It would only be available at Walmart stores. The following month, the band's Facebook page reported that guitarist Gary Rossington had suffered a heart attack and was recovering at home. As a result, some shows would be rescheduled. For the 2016 Summer tour season, the band was slated to perform across America with Peter Frampton. Lynryd Skynyrd still maintained a busy schedule of shows across the United States in 2017. One of those shows was a Merle Haggard Tribute Concert in Nashville.
All good things must come to an end and in January, 2018 the band announced their farewell tour would begin on May 4th in Palm Beach, Florida and wrap up on September 2nd at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, the city where the band was formed. Other acts slated to appear with them during their final trek include The Charlie Daniels Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, 38 Special, Blackberry Smoke, and Blackfoot. Predictably, an extension of the tour was announced in late May that saw shows added from September 22nd to December 8th, with still more tacked on into most of 2019. A documentary that tells the story of Lynyrd Skynyrd was set to air on Showtime on August 18th. The film, titled Lynyrd Skynyrd: If I Leave Here Tomorrow, was directed by Stephen Kijak. A 'live' album called "Live In Atlanta", which documents Skynyrd's June 23, 2006, concert at the Decades Rock Arena, was slated for release on September 21st. On a sad note, former guitarist Ed King passed away on August 22, 2018 at the age of 68.
In mid-March, 2019, Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant revealed plans for a new studio album that would be recorded after the band wrapped up its current tour, which had been extended into 2020. He added that Skynyrd also recorded a show in Jacksonville for a live CD and DVD that would be issued later in the year. On October 6th, founding member Larry Junstrom passed away at the age of 70. As the COVID-19 outbreak halted nearly all shows and concerts around the world, Skynyrd released a new song called "Last of the Street Survivors" as a free download. In an online statement, the band said, "As promised, here's a little gift from our Skynyrd family to yours."
In February, 2021, the band announced the release of a live album and concert movie taken from a 1976 festival appearance in England. Titled "Live at Knebworth '76", the recording captures the legendary rockers onstage when their lineup consisted of Ronnie Van Zant, guitarists Gary Rossington, Allen Collins and Steve Gaines, bassist Leon Wilkeson, drummer Artimus Pyle and keyboardist Billy Powell. More good news for fans came during the first week of June when they announced the continuation of their Big Wheels Keep On Turnin' tour would kick off June 13th, and run coast to coast and border to border through November 19th. Unfortunately, some of those shows had to be canceled or postponed after guitarist Rickey Medlocke tested positive for COVID-19. He would eventually recover and rejoined the band in late August. For 2022, the southern rockers were slated to kick off a series of summer shows in Scottsdale, Arizona on April 9 and conclude on September 23 in Sparks, Nevada. Former Eagles guitarist Don Felder was set to join in on select dates, along with the Marshall Tucker Band, The Outlaws and The Devon Allman Project on others.
Sad news came on March 5th, 2023 when the band announced on their official Facebook page that original guitarist Gary Rossington had passed away at the age of 71. Suffering a series of health problems later in life, he had survived the infamous 1977 plane crash that killed singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines with two broken arms, a broken leg, and a punctured stomach and liver. Despite the loss, Lynyrd Skynyrd was scheduled to return to the road on April 29, continuing their 50th anniversary celebrations. Also on tap was a summer co-headlining tour of the US with ZZ Top, titled, The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was to celebrate 50 years of Southern Rock with the career-spanning box set titled "Fyfty", set for release on October 13th, 2023. Their plans for 2024 included continuing to tour with ZZ Top on the Sharp Dressed Simple Man 2024 Tour.
For more, be sure to read Gary James' Interview With Ed King
