Lynyrd Skynyrd Biography, Photos and Posters

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Biography

Started: 1970
City and Country of Origin: Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Music Training:
Awards: 2006 inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Top Recordings: "Sweet Home Alabama," "Saturday Night Special"
Lynyrd Skynyrd Biography: Lynyrd Skynyrd is a U.S. Southern blues-rock/hard-rock band. The band came to prominence during the 1970s under the leadership of vocalist and primary songwriter Ronnie Van Zant. until he died, along with several other members of the band, in a plane crash in 1977 in McComb, Mississippi.

The band name was inspired by Leonard Skinner, an annoying gym teacher/coach some of the members had in high school. Leonard is said to have moved on to sell real estate in Jacksonville, Florida. Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the most critically acclaimed Southern Rock groups of the 1970's and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as of March 13, 2006. Their distinctive triple-lead guitar sound made their songs "Free Bird", and "Sweet Home Alabama" American anthems and staples of FM radio. Members inducted include: singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarists Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Ed King, and Steve Gaines, bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboard player Billy Powell, and drummers Bob Burns and Artimus Pyle.

The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida under the name My Backyard, in the summer of 1964 by teenage friends Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Allen Collins (guitar), Gary Rossington (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass) and Bob Burns (drums). Their early influences included British Invasion bands such as Free, The Yardbirds, and The Beatles, as well as Southern blues and country & western music.

During the 1960s, the band appeared under several different names (most notable among these was "The Noble Five" and "One Percent") while playing local dances and clubs in Jacksonville. In 1968 they won a local Battle of the Bands contest and used the prize money to record the songs "Need All My Friends" and "Michelle," the former released as their debut single on Jacksonville-based Shade Tree Records. They also won the opening slot on several Southeast shows for California-based psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock.

The band was defunct for a decade after the crash but, in 1987, Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited for a full-scale tour with crash survivors Gary Rossington, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson and Artimus Pyle and former guitarist Ed King. Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, took over as the new lead singer and primary songwriter. Due to Collins' paralysis, he was only able to participate as the musical director, choosing Randall Hall, his former bandmate in the Allen Collins Band, as his stand-in. Collins was struck with pneumonia in 1989 and died on January 23, 1990.

The reunited band was meant to be a one-time tribute to the original lineup, captured on the double-live album Southern By The Grace Of God/Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour - 1987, but because of an overwhelmingly positive reaction by fans, the band decided to stay together and record new material.

The reconstituted Lynyrd Skynyrd has gone through several lineup changes and continues to record and tour today. Leon Wilkeson, Skynyrd's bassist since 1972, died of lung and liver failure on July 27, 2001. The remaining members released a double album called Thyrty which had songs from the original line up to the present. Lynyrd Skynyrd also released a live DVD of their Vicious Cycle Tour and on June 22, 2004 Lynyrd Skynyrd released the album Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour. On December 10, 2004 Lynyrd Skynyrd did a show for CMT, Crossroads, a concert featuring country duo Montgomery Gentry and others genres of music.

Source Wikipedia

Search Site by Artist:

Create search engine for website.