
Burns and Gary Rossington were already friends, and the three got together and jammed on their instruments. The way the band formed is unusual, with original member Ronnie Van Zant hitting then-drummer Bob Burns with a ball on a ball field in 1964. You’re probably also familiar with other hits like “Simple Man,” “Tuesday’s Gone” and “Gimme Three Steps,” all released before 1977. The group wasn’t without their issues - violence among members wasn’t uncommon - but their music nonetheless spoke to the American public. Photo Courtesy: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images Lynyrd Skynyrd rose to fame in the early 1970s with songs like “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama.” The band was made up of several members, including guitarists Gary Rossington, Allen Collins and Leon Wilkeson, drummer Artimus Pyle, keyboardist Billy Powell, and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant. Was the crash really a simple malfunction, or was it something that could have been avoided? Who Were They? Tom Hill/Getty Images Ronnie Van Zant, a little over a year before the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash that killed him and several members of his band. Then when he was still 29, he was killed in a brutal plane crash in the Mississippi woods. One whose legacy continues to grow, even after the tragedy of that devastating 1977 plane crash. Find out why so many fans were left dazed and confused after this tragedy. For years, Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant claimed he would die before 30. Lynyrd Skynyrd is branded as a great Southern rock band, but its simply a great rock and roll band.

The band spent five years touring small venues under various. Evidently, the reason the plane ultimately crashed is that the Houston air-traffic control board gave the pilot the wrong coordinates to the nearest airfield.Their talent and the promise of amazing things to come made their untimely demise all the more devastating for fans - especially when the circumstances of the crash left a mountain of unanswered questions. Lynyrd Skynyrd (/ l n r d s k n r d / LEN-rd SKIN-rd) is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida.The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass guitar) and Bob Burns (drums). The plane had run out of fuel at 6,000 feet. Twenty other members of the band and their crew survived. The crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines, as well as the assistant road manager of the band, the pilot himself, and the copilot. The first half of their tour went off without a hitch.īut, on October 20th, 1977, in a flight from Greenville, South Carolina to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the pilot crashed the plane over southeastern Mississippi. However, the members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd needed a charter in a hurry, and they settled on this plane before checking it out.
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He did not know how to pilot, maintain, or hire a proper crew to make sure that his plane operated safely. The aircraft, a Convair 240, was owned by the trust fund baby of a Texas oil mogul. One of the most tragic deaths in rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd boarded their chartered plane Convair CV-240 after a gig at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville, South Carolina. a former Marine named Del Pyle was killed in a plane crash in Albuquerque in 1971. This decision saved this band but doomed another. Lynyrd Skynyrd is known today for their hit song Sweet Home Alabama and their infamous plane crash. Earlier this month, 42 years after Lynyrd Skynyrds chartered Convair CV-300 crashed near Gillsburg, Mississippi, while heading to Baton Rouge for a concert. The crash killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, back-up singer Cassie. However, Aerosmith quickly looked elsewhere when there were some very serious concerns surrounding the available flight crew. On October 20, 1977, the plane crashed into a Mississippi swamp. Earlier on in 1977, members of Aerosmith had gone to see an airplane that could potentially be used for travel during their upcoming tour. They were immediately off-put by the professionalism of the crew and the owner. Plane Crash Kills Lynyrd Skynyrd Band Members. In the summer of 1977, members of the band Aerosmith went to go check out an airplane that they were considering using for their upcoming tour. The crash occurred only three days after the band released their fifth studio album, Street. On this day, three of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band members lost their lives in a tragic airplane crash. In the summer of 1977, a plane crashed over Mississippi killing three members of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. If these are two of the saddest dates that marked the 1980s and the 1990s respectively, one such date in the decade before them was October 20, 1977.
