Lynyrd Skynyrd

It’s hard to know whether Lynyrd Skynyrd were more famous for their driving three-guitar southern rock and the seminal track “Freebird”, or for their fluctuating line-up and tragic history.

Lynyrd Skynyrd began in the 60s, when Ronnie Van Zant and some of his friends pulled together a band to merge their homeland Southern blues with British influences from Free and The Yardbirds, to produce their own distinctive sound.

Their golden period was in the 1970s. Their first album, 1973’s pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd, contained the “Freebird” track beloved of rockers and parodists everywhere, and perennial favourite “Sweet Home Alabama”. They followed that in 1974 with Second Helping, their best selling album to date.

They released four further well-received albums including One More from the Road, but in 1977 disaster struck to rip a hole in the classic line-up. Ronnie Van Zant, the lifeblood of the group, was killed in a tragic plane crash along with two further band members. Other members of the band were seriously injured and the band broke up after the accident.

In the long period after the crash, surviving members formed the Rossington-Collins Band, The Artemis Pyle Band and the Allen Collins Band.

In 1987 the surviving members of the band reformed, initially for a one off concert, bringing in Ronnie Van Zant’s brother Johnny as lead singer and songwriter. Since that time Skynyrd have continued to tour, gather acclaim and awards and they have, thus far, released several post-crash albums.