Lynyrd Skynyrd Group Members

Ronald Wayne Van Zant was born on January 15, 1948 in Jacksonville, Florida. He was the oldest son of six children (3 sisters and 2 brothers - musicians Donnie and Johnny). Ronnie attended Lee High School in Jacksonville with fellow band members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins. They soon formed what would become Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Growing up on Mull Street, Ronnie was the undisputed king among the boys who would gather to play baseball or football -- games that usually degenerated into raucus free-for-alls because of a missed catch or disputed strike. These games introduced Ronnie with his first love -- baseball. He hoped that sports would rescue him from Shanty Town and recalled in 1975, "I went as far as playing American Legion ball. The next step would have been AA. I played centerfield. I had the highest batting average in the league one year and a good arm. You've got to have a good arm to play outfield. Gary was good too, but he gave it all up when he got to like the Rolling Stones."

Another early passion of Ronnie's was to remain with him throughout his life. Ronnie loved to fish. In the earliest days he and his friends would wander down to nearby Cedar Creek with simple poles and croaker sacks; later fishing provided him the necessary rest and relaxation he needed to escape from the mounting pressures of success with Lynyrd Skynyrd. When the band would return home to Florida after touring for weeks on end, Gary and Ronnie would head out fishing as soon as they woke the next day.

Ronnie's musical interest first centered around playing his father's guitars and piano, but found that being the frontman suited his nature best. In early 1964, Ronnie heard that a group of students he knew at Lakeshore Junior High were putting together a band and needed a singer. He went to the audition and promptly announced that he was the new singer for the band. The others knew they couldn't beat Ronnie in a fight, so Ronnie became the singer for Us.

A short time after landing his first gig, Ronnie met Gary Rossington and Bob Burns. After deciding the three of them would try and make some music and tracking down an amplifier -- reluctantly supplied by Allen Collins -- they witnessed the genesis of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Practicing anywhere and anytime their parents and neighbors would tolerate the noise, the band, first called My Backyard, then the Noble Five, gelled with the addition of bass player Larry Junstrom. One of the band's favorite places to practice was in Allen's living room while his mother worked evenings at the local Woolworths. Allen's mother recalled that she would return home shortly after nine at night and whenever the band practiced at her house, Ronnie would be the first out the door to greet her with a kiss on the cheek.

After several years of practicing and name changes, Skynyrd, like any decent group of fledgling rock stars, started gigging the notorious one-nighters which led to management with Alan Walden and a chance to record a demo album with Jimmy Johnson in 1970. Although the demos did not attract a lot of attention from most of the record companies, the band was offered a contract with Capricorn Records. Demonstrating his own strength and determination that Skynyrd would succeed on its own terms, Ronnie vetoed the deal -- he wouldn't put his band in the shadow of the Allman Brothers. Skynyrd returned to the daily grind of one-nighters on the Southern bar circuit.

Ronnie married Judy Seymour in Waycross, Georgia on November 18, 1972.

In 1973, however, things finally started coming together for Lynyrd Skynyrd. During a week-long stint at Funochio’s in Atlanta, the band was discovered by the renown Al Kooper. After signing a record deal with MCA subsidiary Sounds of the South, Skynyrd entered the studio with Kooper producing. The result -- Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd -- started the band on its rise to fame with standards like ‘Gimme Three Steps’, ‘Simple Man’, and the incendiary, guitar-driven classic, ‘Freebird’.

Gold and platinum albums followed a string of hit songs like ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, ‘Saturday Night Special’, ‘Gimme Back My Bullets’, ‘What’s Your Name?’, and ‘That Smell’. Over the four years Skynyrd recorded, the memories gradually turned into legends. Opening the Who tour. “Skynning” Europe alive. 1975’s Torture Tour. Steve Gaines. One More From The Road. The Knebworth Fair ’76.

Despite achieving tremendous success with Lynyrd Skynyrd, by late 1976 Ronnie began considering leaving the band. His health had suffered horribly from the rigors of nearly non-stop touring and partying and the birth of his daughter Melody in September caused him to reassess his life and his priorites. Although Gary and Allen convinced him not to leave, Ronnie did insist on toning down the "rotgut life" Skynyrd had been leading. This fresh approach, combined with the addition of Steve Gaines as Skynyrd's new third guitar player, reinspired Ronnie and he wrote some of the best material of his career.

By October 20, 1977, Skynyrd’s songs had become radio staples. Their latest album, Street Survivors, had just been released to critical and popular acclaim. Their ambitious new tour, just days underway, saw sellout crowds. Then it all fell away at 6000 feet above a Mississippi swamp.

At 6:42 PM, the pilot of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s chartered Convair 240 airplane radioed that the craft was dangerously low on fuel. Less than ten minutes later, the plane crashed into a densely wooded thicket in the middle of a swamp. The crash, which killed Ronnie VanZant, guitarist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, road manager Dean Kilpatrick and seriously injured the rest of the band and crew, shattered Skynyrd’s fast rising star as it cut a 500 foot path through the swamp. Lynyrd Skynyrd had met a sudden, tragic end.

As Merle Haggard's 'I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am' played, Ronnie was laid to rest with his trademark Texas Hatters black hat and favorite fishing pole. Ronnie was memorialized with a simple, ten minute private service under cloudy skies in Orange Park, Florida surrounded by 150 close friends and family. Following a taped recording of David Allen Coe's 'Another Pretty Country Song', Charlie Daniels sang 'Amazing Grace'. Standing in front of the rose-covered brass coffin, minister David Evans, who had recently performed Gary's wedding, led the mourners with the message that Ronnie was not dead; that he lived on in heaven in spirit and on earth in song.

Gary Rossington:

Profession: Musician

Real Name / Birth Name / Full Name: Gary Rossington

Birth Date: December 4, 1951

Birth Place: Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Best Known As: Guitarist and drummer Gary Rossington earned a place in music history as one of the founding members of the legendary rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Gary Rossington Biography:

Born on December 4, 1951 in Jacksonville, Florida, Gary Rossington's father died shortly after he was born. This early loss affected him deeply and made him especially dedicated toward his mother, Berniece. When Gary first bought a "real" guitar -- a classic Les Paul Sunburst -- he named the guitar after his mother.

Gary began his musical career in the summer of 1964 when friend Bob Burns received a drum kit -- both boys immediately decided that they would become world famous rock and roll drummers. The practical limitations of a forming a band with only two drummers soon became apparent and Gary gravitated toward playing the guitar. Collecting Coke bottles, scrap metal and a new paper route soon garnered enough to put a deposit on a Sears Silvertone guitar. Gary remembered, "It was a Silvertone. It came in a case with the amp -- it all came in one piece. It was cool. I bought it for about 60 bucks, I think. It seems like it took me five years to pay for it." Another Jacksonville friend, Larry Junstrom, played bass guitar and the settings developed for one of the very first pre-Skynyrd bands: You, Me and Him. All they had to do was learn how to play music.

Gary's older sister, Carol, began dating Lloyd Phillips who played lead guitar in a Jacksonville band that often won local 'Battle of the Bands' contests because of his fast playing. Lloyd really impressed Gary by knowing all the solos in songs like 'Louie, Louie' and 'You Really Got Me'. While waiting to pick Carol up for their date, Lloyd would spend the time showing Gary the basics of playing the guitar.

Gary Rossington, Bob Burns, and Larry Junstrom. Allen Collins. Ronnie VanZant. When these five people came together for the first time in 1964, no one really realized that rock and roll history was being made. Especially hearing about the first rehearsal of My Backyard. No one knew any songs all the way through. Playing just the parts they knew, the new band tried 'Last Time', 'Gloria' and 'Louie, Louie'. Allen had a small Super Reverb amp and both he and Gary plugged their guitars into the bright channel and Ronnie sang through the normal -- all three in one amp.

Years of practicing slowly paid off and as the band gelled, Skynyrd, like any decent group of fledgling rock stars, started gigging the notorious one-nighters which led to management with Alan Walden and a chance to record a demo album with Jimmy Johnson in 1970. Although the demos did not attract a lot of attention from most of the record companies, the band was offered a contract with Capricorn Records. Worried that Skynyrd would forever be under the shadow of the Allman Brothers at the label, the band returned to the daily grind of one-nighters on the Southern bar circuit.

Gold and platinum albums followed a string of hit songs like

‘Sweet Home Alabama’, ‘Saturday Night Special’, ‘Gimme Back My Bullets’, ‘What’s Your Name?’, and ‘That Smell’. Over the four years Skynyrd recorded, the memories gradually turned into legends. Opening the Who tour. “Skynning” Europe alive. 1975’s Torture Tour. Steve Gaines. One More From The Road. The Knebworth Fair ’76.

In September 1976, Gary inspired one of Skynyrd's greatest songs ever -- 'That Smell'.

Driving drunk in Jacksonville, he lost control of his new car and smashed through a parking lot (and Volkswagon bug) into an old oak tree. "Whiskey bottles, brand new car..." By October 20, 1977, Skynyrd’s songs had become radio staples. Their latest album, Street Survivors, had just been released to critical and popular acclaim. Their ambitious new tour, just days underway, saw sellout crowds. Then it all fell away at 6000 feet above a Mississippi swamp.

Gary Rossington, who had both legs, arms wrist and feet broken, as well as a broken pelvic bone and ribs, met with other surviving band members and agreed to disband Skynyrd forever. Lynyrd Skynyrd had come to a fateful and tragic end.

After several years of recovery, the crash survivors felt the time was right for another try. Gary Rossington and Allen Collins had performed at a few special jams, and slowly began planning a new band. In a few months they had signed on Skynyrd survivors Billy Powell and Leon Wilkeson and other local musicians, although the choice of a lead vocalist for the new band remained a perplexing one. Wisely, Gary and Allen chose Dale Krantz, a gutsy, whiskey-voiced female backup singer from .38 Special, instead of an inferior male Ronnie VanZant imitator.

The Rossington-Collins Band debuted in 1980 with the Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere album. Kicked by such songs as ‘Getaway” and 'Don’t Misunderstand Me’ the album sold more than a million copies and the band toured to enthusiastic, sellout crowds. However the band’s 1981 follow-up effort stumbled in the marketplace despite being well-received critcally.

Mounting pressures took a high toll on the band. Allen’s wife died during a miscarriage forcing the cancellation of the 1980 tour, then Gary broke his foot and postponed the tour for another six months. By 1982, Gary and Dale had fallen in love which added another stress to the host of problems within the band. In May the two married and retired to a log house just outside the National Elk Refuge in the Grand Teton Mountains to relax and raise a family.

After four years away from the music industry, Gary and Dale reappeared in 1986 with a new band and album. Returned to the Scene Of The Crime remained guitar oriented rock, but dropped much of the classic Skynyrd sound. Gary knew the approaching tenth anniversary of the crash would bring more and more calls for a Skynyrd reunion. Although initially reluctant, he became involved to insure the reunion would be done right. Reuniting all the crash survivors, Ed King and attempting to fill the shoes of Ronnie VanZant and Steve Gaines proved a daunting task. The band, however, took the stage for the first time in a decade at the 1987 Charlie Daniels’ Volunteer Jam.

The Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Band used the show to kick off a three year tour showcasing the classics that still remained extremely popular. Tearing through a fifteen song set, the band finished with the traditional closer, ‘Freebird’ -- now transformed into the band’s eulogy for Ronnie VanZant. Playing the song instrumentally as a single spotlight lit Ronnie’s hat perched on an empty mic stand, the song never failed to provoke deep emotions from both band members and fans.

The band found that the devotion of Skynyrd’s fans had increased dramatically in the years since the plane crash. As the Tribute Tour stretched on, the band approached the delicate issue of continuing with new material. What had started as a tribute to the glory of Skynyrd’s past had become an important part of the band’s future.

After some serious soul searching by Gary Rossington, the first new material in fourteen years-- Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 -- came about. Every new song on 1991 and its follow-up, The Last Rebel, told a story in true Skynyrd style. The tunes, all written or co-written by band members, range from blistering guitar rockers to meaningful ballads.

The full-fledged reformation of Skynyrd took their legions of fans by storm. Kicking off the twentieth anniversary of the first Skynyrd album, the band reclaimed the historic stage at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta for a series of celebratory shows. Then Skynyrd embarked on a tour crisscrossing America and Europe, followed by an all-acoustic album of Skynyrd classics and more sellout dates. A new group with a classic heritage.

Gary Rossington, firmly in control of his and his band’s destiny, returned to the Fox Theatre in December 1995 to cement Skynyrd’s place in rock roll history with the debut of Freebird... The Movie. Centering around Skynyrd’s famous 1976 performance at the Knebworth Fair and candid “home movies” of the band on and off the road, the film serves as the final testimony on the significance of one of the greatest rock bands America produced.

Composer Filmography:

3: The Dale Earnhardt Story (2004) (TV) (song "What's Your Name?") (uncredited)

Sweet Home Alabama (2002) (song "Sweet Home Alabama") Joe Dirt (2001) (song "Sweet Home Alabama")

Almost Famous (2000) (song "Simple Man")

"Malcolm in the Middle" (2000) TV Series (song "Sweet Home Alabama")

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Lyve from Steel Town (1997) (TV) (songs)

Crimson Tide (1995) (song "Sweet Home Alabama") (uncredited)

Forrest Gump (1994) (song "Sweet Home Alabama")

Renegade (1987) (song "Simple Man" and "Call Me The Breeze")

Wake (1987) (TV) (song)

Bob Burns:

Profession:

Real Name / Birth Name / Full Name:

Birth Date:

Birth Place:

Death Date:

Death Place:

Best Known As: Member of Lynyrd Skynyrd

Bob Burns Biography:

Allen Collins:

Profession: Musician / Rock guitarist

Real Name / Birth Name / Full Name: Allen Larkin Collins

Birh Date: July 19, 1952

Birth Place: Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Death Date: 23 January 1990

Death Place: Jacksonville, Florida, USA. (pneumonia)

Best Known As: Member of Lynyrd Skynyrd

Allen Collins Biography:

Celebrated rock guitarist Allen Larkin Collins was born in Jacksonville, FL, on July 19, (b. 1952). The fame he has reached came from his explosive skill with the guitar and from his founding membership in a band known as Lynyrd Skynyrd.

In 1963, Allen lived in Jacksonville's Cedar Hills area when an older friend received a guitar for his birthday. Allen was hooked. Allen's parents had recently divorced and times were tough for Allen, his sister and mother. His mother, already working all day at the cigar factory, took a second job at Woolworths in the evenings. As soon as she had saved enough money, she surprised Allen by taking him down to Sears and ordered his first Silvertone guitar and amplifier. Despite no training aside from a few tips from his step-mother and friend, Allen picked up the guitar easily and quickly formed his first band -- The Mods. Together with singer Ronnie VanZant and guitarist Gary Rossington, Allen Collins formed the nucleus of Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1964 by learning what they could from each other and listening to the radio.

By 1965, Collins, Rossington, VanZant, and Burns changed the name of the band once more, this time becoming Lynyrd Skynyrd. Slowly, with years of practice in between, performing for fun turned into performing professionally. The guys even rocked out with the tune "Free Bird" at Collins' wedding to Kathy Johns in 1970. It was musician Al Kooper who first took real notice of these long-haired Southern boys. With his help, Lynyrd Skynyrd saw the release of its debut album in 1973 under the MCA Records label. Collins, as part of Lynyrd Skynyrd, completed a number of albums, with big hits like "Saturday Night Special," "What's Your Name?," and "Sweet Home Alabama." The band toured worldwide and its albums went gold and platinum.

In 1970, Allen married Kathy Johns. Allen included his band mates in his wedding party, but Kathy worried that their long haired appearance would disturb her parents. Solving the problem required everyone tucking their rock and roll image under wigs for the wedding ceremony. The wedding reception played host to a piece of rock and roll history -- one of the first public performances of "Freebird" complete with the trademark extended guitar jam at the end. Allen's family grew with the birth of his daughter Amie followed quickly by Allison. Times were very difficult since Allen's musical career barely brought in enough to support the young family. Despite coming close several times, Lynyrd Skynyrd just kept missing that elusive big break.

In 1973, however, things finally started coming together for Lynyrd Skynyrd. During a week-long stint at Funochio's in Atlanta, the band was discovered by the renown Al Kooper. After signing a record deal with MCA subsidiary Sounds of the South, Skynyrd entered the studio with Kooper producing. The result -- Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd -- started the band on its rise to fame with standards like 'Gimme Three Steps', 'Simple Man', and the incendiary, guitar-driven classic, 'Freebird'.

Gold and platinum albums followed a string of hit songs like 'Sweet Home Alabama', 'Saturday Night Special', 'Gimme Back My Bullets', 'What's Your Name?', and 'That Smell'. Over the four years Skynyrd recorded, the memories gradually turned into legends. Opening the Who tour. "Skynning" Europe alive. 1975's Torture Tour. Steve Gaines. One More From The Road. The Knebworth Fair '76.

By October 20, 1977, Skynyrd's songs had become radio staples. Their latest album, Street Survivors, had just been released to critical and popular acclaim. Their ambitious new tour, just days underway, saw sellout crowds. Then it all fell away at 6000 feet above a Mississippi swamp.

At 6:42 PM, the pilot of Lynyrd Skynyrd's chartered Convair 240 airplane radioed that the craft was dangerously low on fuel. Less than ten minutes later, the plane crashed into a densely wooded thicket in the middle of a swamp. The crash, which killed Ronnie VanZant, guitarist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, road manager Dean Kilpatrick and seriously injured the rest of the band and crew, shattered Skynyrd's fast rising star as it cut a 500 foot path through the swamp. Lynyrd Skynyrd had met a sudden, tragic end.

After several years of recovery, the crash survivors felt the time was right for another try. Gary Rossington and Allen Collins had performed at a few special jams, and slowly began planning a new band. Over the next few weeks they signed on Skynyrd survivors Billy Powell and Leon Wilkeson and other local musicians, although the choice of a lead vocalist for the new band remained a perplexing one. Realizing any singer would be faced with inevitable comparisons with Ronnie VanZant, Allen and Gary chose Dale Krantz, a gutsy, whiskey-voiced female backup singer from .38 Special. This change set the Rossington Collins band apart as they entered the 1980s.

The Rossington-Collins Band debuted in June 1980 with the Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere album. Kicked by such songs as 'Getaway" and 'Don't Misunderstand Me' the album sold more than a million copies and the band toured to enthusiastic, sellout crowds. However the band's 1981 follow-up effort stumbled in the marketplace despite being well-received critically.

Tragedy struck Allen's life again just as the Rossington Collins Band started. During the first days of the stressful debut concert tour, Allen's wife Kathy passed away forcing the tour's cancellation. Coupled with the lingering effects of losing his friends in the plane crash, Kathy's death devastated Allen. However, the pull of creating music was too strong for Allen to walk away from. Even when Gary Rossington and Dale Krantz quit the Rossington Collins Band, Allen continued on forming the Allen Collins Band in 1983. Allen originally wanted the name Horsepower for his band, but shortly after completing the new album's artwork they learned that name was already used. Their one release, Here, There and Back, met with considerable fan approval, but little support from MCA Records which dropped the band shortly after the album's release.

In 1986 death came yet again and this time Collins was blamed. While driving under the influence of alcohol, he wrecked his car, killing his girlfriend and paralyzing himself from the waist down and reducing the use of his upper body severely enough that he would never play his guitar again. Collins, pleading no contest in court, was convicted of DUI manslaughter. From then on, he used his fame to reach young people and warn them about drinking and driving. In January of 1990, after being diagnosed with pneumonia that was brought on because of his paralyzation.