Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Curse of Lynyrd Skynyrd

Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, Allen Collins, Leon Wilkeson, Hughie Thomasson
Billy Powell
R.I.P.

THE Lynyrd Skynyrd song

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rest in peace, Billy. Your music will live forever.

Jake said...

And so it continues - from todays New York Times

COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) — Donald Evans, called Ean, bassist with the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died Wednesday at his home in Mississippi. He was 48.

His death was confirmed by Greg Merchant, the Lowndes County, Miss., coroner. A statement posted on lynyrdskynrd.com said he had cancer.

Mr. Evans was born in Atlanta, but moved to Columbus, in eastern Mississippi, after marrying his wife, Eva. He joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 2001 and had been touring regularly with the band until he learned he had cancer last year. Survivors include his wife and two daughters.

The band, which was based in Jacksonville, Fla., was formed in 1966 by a group of high school students; famously, it took its name from that of a physical education teacher they disliked, Leonard Skinner.

It became one of the South’s most popular rock groups and gained national fame with hits like “Free Bird,” “What’s Your Name” and especially “Sweet Home Alabama,” which reached the Top 10 in 1974. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

On Oct. 20, 1977, a plane chartered by the band crashed in a swamp near McComb, Miss. The crash killed six people, including the band’s lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant.

In 2001, the bassist Leon Wilkeson died in his sleep in a hotel room near Jacksonville. Mr. Evans was hired to replace him.