The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash and How Ronnie Van Zant’s Death Changed Music

Lynyrd Skynyrd was an American rock band that rose to prominence in the 1970s during the boom of Southern rock. Their music was embraced by the working class of the South and helped to create a sense of regional pride.

Van Zant auditioned and became the frontman for Us. Soon, Van Zant would meet Gary Rossington, Bob Burns, and Allen Collins. They began practicing at Collin’s house until his mother would return at 9 p.m. at night.

In 1973, Lynyrd Skynyrd was discovered by renowned producer Al Kooper and struck a record deal with MCA subsidiary Sounds of the South. Skynyrd recorded “Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd,” and would be on its rise to fame with hits “Gimme Three Steps,” “Simple Man,” and “Freebird.”

The band’s name refers to Leonard Skinner, a teacher at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville who had suspended several band members for having long hair (via American Songwriter).

Characterized by their signature triple-guitar attack from Collins, Rossington, and Gaines, anchored by the powerful vocals of Van Zant, the anthems Lynyrd Skynyrd created transcended generations and cultural boundaries, uniting, inspiring, and energized listeners and musicians around the world.

According to Rolling Stone, band manager Peter Rudge had bought a nearly 30-year-old Convair 240 because the group of musicians had caused too many issues on commercial flights. Two hours into their flight, both engines failed, and the plane plummeted to the ground.

According to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s website, the band’s Convair CV-240 aircraft had run out of fuel near the end of the flight. The pilots attempted to navigate to McComb Airport, about 10 miles northeast of the eventual crash site in Amite County, Mississippi. Unfortunately, the plane was unable to make it.

Lead vocalist and founding member Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist and vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gains (Steve’s older sister), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, Captain Walter McCreary, and First Officer William John Gray all died due to the crash, while 20 others survived with critical injuries.

The crash site is located in a remote area of Amite County, Mississippi, approximately 10 miles east of Gillsburg. A memorial marker was erected at the site in 1981, and it remains a place of pilgrimage for Lynyrd Skynyrd fans from around the world.

Understandably, the tragedy had left the surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd in a state of disbelief. The American rock band went on a hiatus to grieve the loss of their bandmates and grapple with the trauma of the crash.

Ronnie Van Zant’s younger brother, Johnny Van Zant, took over the role of lead vocalist. Gary Rossington, the only remaining original member from the crash, joined the new lineup on guitar. Powell, bassist Leon Wilkeson, and drummer Artimus Pyle joined the new version of Lynyrd Skynyrd. The band continues to perform today, though many more members of the band have died in recent years, including Wilkeson and Powell.

The powerful vocalist and charismatic frontman was a gifted songwriter who touched something powerful in the hearts of listeners. Van Zant and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s influence can be heard in the music across many different genres to this day.

By the time of her father’s death, Van Zant’s wife and he had divorced, and Tammy’s biological mother, Nadine Inscoe, had fallen into a prescription drug addiction and was unable to care for the young girl. These hardships and feelings of isolation would later be reflected in Tammy’s music.

Tammy followed in her father’s steps into music, but her fate didn’t let her complete her future projects. Tammy released her single, “Freebird Child,” in 2009, and her debut studio record of the same name in 2014. Her other track, “Surviving on a Wing and a Prayer,” was dedicated to all the women who had struggled with traumatic hardships throughout their lives.