Yet more despair was in store, however. Copy. We want to hear it. The origins of the band go back to teenage school years when singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarists Allen Collins and Gary Rossington formed garage acts like My Backyard and The Noble Five in their native Jacksonville. This is a landmark outing, again produced by Kooper but with a bigger budget that took the LS crew to The Record Plant in Los Angeles where their wild partying antics didnt go unnoticed. Lynyrd She was 58. Before finding his love for music, Ronnie aspired to be many things. Thomasson left the band to re-form his band Outlaws in 2005, dying two years later in 2007. Wilkeson, Skynyrd's bassist since 1972, died in 2001 and was replaced by Ean Evans that same year (Evans, in turn, died in 2009). After being recommended by Cassie Gaines, a member of Lynyrd Skynyrds female backup singers, the Honkettes, Steve Gaines joined the band as the new guitarist. LYNYRD SKYNYRD Backing Singer Passes - BraveWords classic rock She was at the opening of Freebird The Movie at Atlanta's Fox Theatre in 1995. Lynyrd Skynyrd are like the Dude, they will prevail. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. An October 20, 1977 airplane crash killed several members of the band and road crew, but Billingsley was the only band member not on the flight. The seasonal effort Christmas Time Again was released in fall 2000. Featuring the hit single "Sweet Home Alabama" -- a response to Neil Young's "Southern Man" -- Second Helping reached number 12 and went multi-platinum. We cater for all pockets when it comes to compilations of this grand band. Burns left the group in 1974. He was also the primary lyricist and a founding member of the same band. It was found that Johnnys surgical site was infected with cellulitis which required hospitalization and IV/Antibiotic treatment. Jonny is a die-hard fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars! White's husband, Tim, an Alabama native, moved the family back to his home state in late 1986 when he received a job offer in Cullman. Their first five classic albums are all available here, as are some stonking live sets and a generous number of anthologies, hits and compilations. Your email address will not be published. They also spent five years touring small venues under various names before changing to Lynyrd Skynyrd. A 31-year-old woman in Collins car died before arriving at the hospital after Wednesdays accident in South Jacksonville, said Mike Kee, a police spokesman. This resulted in a number of scheduled performances being canceled. Released in late 1976, the album featured the band's new guitarist, Steve Gaines, and a trio of female backup singers, and it became Skynyrd's second Top Ten album.