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Southern-Rock mainstays Lynyrd Skynyrd was formed in 1964 in Jacksonville, Florida USA, by high school friends lead singer Ronnie VanZant, guitarists Allen Collins and Gary Rossington, bass player Leon Wilkeson and drummer Bob Burns. They began to perform in the South of the U.S. under various names releasing a single in the late '60s, the quintet finally christened the band Lynyrd Skynyrd and recorded a demo-album plus the debut single, "I've Been Your Fool". In 1973 the group issued their debut full-length LP, "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd", enlisting a new line-up that included the third guitarist, Ed King and Billy Powell on piano + keyboards. The album featured the single "Free Bird", with its superb three-guitar finale became a national radio hit but entered the top 20 of the U.S. Pop Singles chart two years later. In late 1973 Pete Townshend invited the group to open for The
Who on their Quadrophenia tour, soon after Lynyrd Skynyrd returned
to the studio and recorded their biggest hit "Sweet Home Alabama"
which peaked at #8 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart in 1974; it fast became
a quintessential Southern-Rock anthem and helped push their sophomore
effort, "Second Helping", into the top 20 of the Pop Albums
chart subsequently turning into a multi-platinum seller. "Nuthin' Fancy" came out in 1975 and debuted at #9 on the Pop
Albums chart earning the band another gold disc, its single "Saturday
Night Special" peaked at #27 on the national chart. The Honkettes,
a trio of female backup singers which comprised of Leslie Hawkins, JoJo
Billingsley and Cassie Gaines, became a part of the band that toured the
U.K. for the first time in support of the Dutch Rock sensation Golden
Earring. 1976's "Gimme Back My Bullets" failed to enter the top 10
in the States and the single "Double Trouble" reached a modest
#80 on the Pop chart. That September, Gary Rossington was injured in a
car accident in Jacksonville, a fact that inspired the single "That
Smell". Guitarist Steve Gaines joined Lynyrd Skynyrd which headed
out on tour with The Rolling Stones. In October of 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd released their fifth studio album,
"Street Survivors" and then tragedy struck. In Gillsburg, Mississippi,
a plane crash took the lives of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, his sister
Cassie and road manager Dean Kilpatrick; Rossington, Collins, Powell,
Wilkeson and Leslie Hawkins, were all seriously injured but survived the
crash. The next year saw the release of "Skynyrd's First And...Last" which contained previously unreleased recordings from 1970-1972; it reached the #15 position on The Pop Albums chart and went platinum. After the crash the band broke up, in 1980 Rossington and Collins formed
a new band which featured other ex-Skynyrd members but two years later
they decided to go their separate ways. One year later the name Lynyrd Skynyrd was revived for a tour featuring
Rossington, Powell, Pyle, Wilkeson and King, with Ronnie's brother Johnny
Van Zant on vocals and Randell Hall on guitar. In January of 1990, Allen Collins died of respiratory failure caused by pneumonia, a complication of his paralysis. The next year the re-assembled Lynyrd Skynyrd began recording new material
and that June the group issued "Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991", it reached
the #64 position on The Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and spawned "Keeping
The Faith" and "Smokestack Lightning", which peaked at
#10 and #2, respectively, on The Mainstream Rock Tracks. Nearly one year later, in February 1993, the single "Good Lovin's
Hard To Find" broke into the top 10 of The Active Rock radio chart,
it was taken from the album "The Last Rebel" which equaled the
peak position of its immediate predecessor on The Billboard 200. The album
also featured the Mainstream Rock top 40 hit "Born To Run". In 1996 Lynyrd Skynyrd signed a multi-album agreement with CMC International
Records. Rickey Medlocke, who played drums from 1971 until late 1972 with
the Skynyrd, rejoined the group, this time as guitarist; Hughie Thomasson
was also added as guitarist. The following year Johnny Van Zant teamed up with brother Donnie Van Zant of .38 Special for Van Zant's "Brother To Brother", a long awaited collaboration of these two surviving members of one of American Rock's royal families. In August 1999, after undergoing another change in the band's line-up
that saw the addition of new drummer Michale Cartellone, Lynyrd Skynyrd
returned with its ninth album of all-new-material, "Edge Of Forever",
the 12-song set was a further modestly-placed chart record as it reached
#97 on The Billboard Top 200 although it spawned "Workin'" which
grabbed a #13 spot on The Mainstream Rock Tracks and "Preacher Man",
another Active Rock top 30 hit. In 2001 Lynyrd Skynyrd hits the road again on a North American tour
with Deep Purple and Ted
Nugent. The now legendary Southern-Rock group celebrated their 30th anniversary by releasing "Vicious Cycle"' on May 6, 2003; their first studio album in three years peaked at #30 on The Billboard 200 and the single "Red, White And Blue" rocketed to #27 on The Mainstream Rock chart. On January 28, 2009, keyboardist Billy Powell passed away at his home
in Florida at the age of 56. Only few months later, on May 6, Ean Evans
died, after a long battle with cancer; he was 48.
Lynyrd Skynyrd biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com |
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more Lynyrd Skynyrd photos, news and other stuff HERE » |
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Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd(1973) |
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Second Helping(1974) |
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Nuthin' Fancy(1975) |
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Gimme Back My Bullets(1976) |
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Street Survivors(1977) |
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Skynyrd's First And...Last(1978) |
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Legend(1987) |
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Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991(1991) |
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The Last Rebel(1993) |
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Twenty(1997) |
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Edge Of Forever(1999) |
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Vicious Cycle(2003) |
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God & Guns(2009) |
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Lynyrd Skynyrd discography - an exclusive and detailed creation of 100xr.com
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