Unfortunately, there have been far too many of those days. For rock music enthusiasts, October 20, 1977, will forever go down as one of the most tragic days in music history. The phrase the day the music died, a phrase taken from the song American Pie by Don McLean, refers to the tragic plane crash that occurred on February 3. Marks the swampy spot where Lynyrd Skynyrds tour plane crashed on Oct. On This Day: Lynyrd Skynyrd Members Die in Tragic Plane Crash in 1977. The group would soar into the public view with songs like “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama.” Outsider. Black granite monument eight feet tall and 14 feet wide with steps leading up to it. The band was initially called “My Backyard” before a name change in 1973 following increased success and notoriety. When Lynyrd Skynyrds Ronnie Van Zant died in a plane crash at the age of 29, music fans were shocked and saddened, but the accident seemed to make good on. On October 20, 1977, they would board a flight bound for Louisiana that would crash in Gillsberg, Missippi and claim the lives of band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, along with Pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray.

The core initial group was Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, and Larry Junstrom.

Despite that, the band didn’t reunite for public performances until about a decade after this 1977 tragedy.Ī lot of change happened during the tumultuous career of Lynyrd Skynyrd. This album would become their second platinum record and would reach No. For music history buffs, the name Lynyrd Skynyrd instantly conjures up the day in 1977 when. Just three days before the accident, Lynyrd Skynyrd released their fifth studio album, “Street Survivors.” The album featured hits like “What’s Your Name,” “Ain’t No Good Life,” “Honky Tonk Night Time Man,” and “I Know a Little.” Allen Collins, who lost fellow members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd in a 1977 plane crash and was paralyzed four years ago in a drunken driving accident, died Tuesday of pneumonia. Monument unveiled 42 years after plane crash. “I looked up at Ronnie, and we gave each other to old hippie handshake, not a regular handshake, the old’ thumb-around-thumb hippie handshake, and so Ronnie smiled, this incredible smile, he had a beautiful smile … I could see, the man knew his destiny – he already told me,” Pyle said, according to Metal Head Zone. He said he remembered Ronnie Van Zant coming to the back of the plane to see him one last time. Artimus Pyle, the former drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd, recounted what it was like to survive the crash.

When did lynyrd skynyrd die