History Music / LynyrdSkynyrd

[[index]]

* 2000 - ''[[ChristmasMusic Christmas Time Again]]''

** FearlessFool: Some stories hold that Ronnie died because he didn't like wearing seatbelts and decided to sit in the middle of the plane's aisle. This appears to be an UrbanLegend, however; while accounts of Ronnie's last moments differ on the details, pretty much all the actual witnesses agree that while he had been napping in the aisle earlier in the flight, he was at least in a seat at the time of impact, and most say that he was buckled in at the time.

** After the plane crash, it came out that Music/{{Aerosmith}} had initially intended to charter that very aircraft, but one of the operations managers saw some things he didn't like and vetoed it, over the objections of the band members. When news of the crash reached Aerosmith, they were shaken by the realization of what they had narrowly avoided.

* HomesicknessHymn: For all the controversies surrounding some of the verses in "Sweet Home Alabama" by Music/LynyrdSkynyrd, the song is at least partly about a traveller who is eager to get back to his family and his (likely rose-colored) image of his home state.
* LocationSong: "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd is an AnswerSong about what makes the South wonderful, in reaction to Music/NeilYoung's more pessimistic "Alabama".

* {{Bowdlerize}}: Apparently the intended lyric in "Gimme 3 Steps" was "Wait a minute mister I didn't even ''stick'' her" but it was changed to "kiss her" in the radio version. Ronnie would still sing the "stick her" line in concert.

* BringMyBrownPants: Implied to happen to the narrator of "Gimme 3 Steps" as he's staring down the gun of Linda Lou's boyfriend.

* MercyLead: "Gimme 3 Steps" is about begging a very pissed-off boyfriend whose girl the narrator unknowingly hit on to give one of these.

-->''On the day old Curtis died nobody came to pray''
-->''old preacher said some words''
-->''they chucked him in the clay''
* LongestSongGoesLast:
** ''(Pronounced_'Leh-nerd_Skin-nerd)'' closes with "Free Bird" (9:09).

* LongRunner: One of the longest-running southern rock bands, having been founded in 1964. In 2023, with the death of Gary Rossington, [[TheseusShipParadox none of the founding members]] [[EndOfAnEra are left]].

* LongRunner: One of the longest-running southern rock bands, having been founded in 1964

* TheBandMinusTheFace: Probably the most extreme example in popular music; Gary Rossington is the only original member still with the band.

Tragedy struck on October 20, 1977, three days after the band recorded their ''Street Survivors'' album, when their chartered plane crashed in Mississippi. Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister Cassie (one of the band's backup singers, known as The Honkettes), and Dean Kilpatrick, a member of the band's production staff, were killed. The band disbanded after the tragedy, with the group reuniting at Charlie Daniels's Volunteer Jam V to perform an instrumental version of "Free Bird" accompanied by Daniels and some of his band members (bassist Charlie Hayward and keyboardist Joel "Taz" [=DiGregorio=]). Rossington, Collins, Wilkeson and Powell formed the Rossington-Collins Band, but Collins was prone to alcoholism and drugs. The band reformed in 1987 with Ronnie's younger brother Johnny and a rotating cast of new blood.

Allen Collins died in 1990 of pneumonia resulting from a serious car accident four years earlier due to his drug abuse. In 2015, Bob Burns was killed in a car accident at his Georgia home. Larry Junstrom went on to spend more than 35 years as the bassist for ''38 Special'' (led by Ronnie's other brother Donnie - yes, the brothers' names are [[ThemeNaming Ronnie, Johnny and Donnie]]), retiring in 2014 and passing in 2019. Rossington is the only founding member still performing with the band.

Although the group never topped charts (their biggest hit, "Sweet Home Alabama", topped out at #8 on ''Billboard''), Skynyrd remains beloved by tons of rock fans, especially in the South, where fans embraced the band as a counter to the "protest bands" that popped up in the '60s. ("Sweet Home Alabama" even took a few direct [[TakeThat shots]] at Music/NeilYoung for some of his protest songs, despite the off-stage friendship between Young and Van Zant.)

* '''''Gary Rossington''''' – guitar (1964–1977, 1979, 1987–present)

** "All I Can Do Is Write About It" talks about destruction of the Southern enviroment.
** "God and Guns" takes a stand about anti-gun politicians.

* CoolOldGuy: The titular Curtis of "The Ballad of Curtis Loew". A fun loving Bluesman who'd play for a sip of wine.

* GenerationXerox: Years before, drummer Artemus Pyle's father died in a plane crash leaving from the Greenville airport, where the band's fatal crash took off from.

* LongRunner: One of the longest running southern rock bands, having been founded in 1964
* MercyLead: "Gimme 3 Steps" is about begging the a very pissed off boyfriend whose girl the narrator unknowingly hit on to give one of these.

-->Well he turned and screamed at Linda Lou\\

* TakeThat: The band put Music/NeilYoung "on blast" in "Sweet Home Alabama". {{Subverted}}, as the members and Neil Young were friends and Young would publicly say that the criticism was justified.

* XtremeKoolLetterz

* TheresNoPlaceLikeHome: "Sweet Home Alabama" expresses the joy of being in their home state.
** Even though they were actually from Florida.

->''"[[IconicSongRequest FREE BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRD!]]"''
-->-- '''[[MemeticMutation Some guy at every concert you've ever attended]]'''

-->-- '''''Free Bird'''''

* LongRunner: One of the longest running southern rock bands, having been founded in 1961

** The use of the letter "Y" in their name is to Music/TheByrds.

** The use of y's in their name is to Music/TheByrds.

* The use of y's in their name is to Music/TheByrds.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPay: The title of their debut album (''Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd)'') notes this.

* SurvivorGuilt: Many of the survivors of the plane crash experienced this, but it was particularly difficult for Billy Powell (Cassie Gaines died in his arms), while it was even worse for Allen Collins and Gary Rossington because they survived while the people sitting on either side of them did not. As Rossington explained:

** FearlessFool: Some stories hold that Ronnie died because he didn't like wearing seatbelts and decided to sit in the middle of the plane's aisle. This appears to be an UrbanLegend, however; while accounts of Ronnie's last moments differ on the details, pretty much everyone who actually witnessed Ronnie's final moments agrees that while he had been napping in the aisle earlier in the flight, he was at least in a seat at the time of impact, and most say that he was buckled in at the time.

** FearlessFool: Some stories hold that Ronnie died because he didn't like wearing seatbelts and decided to sit in the middle of the plane's aisle. This appears to be an UrbanLegend, however; while accounts of Ronnie's last moments differ on the details, pretty much everyone agrees that while he had been napping in the aisle earlier in the flight, he was at least in a seat at the moment of impact, and most say that he was buckled in at the time.

->"'''[[IconicSongRequest FREE BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRD!]]'''"
-->--'''[[MemeticMutation Some guy at every concert you've ever attended]]'''