Lynyrd Skynyrd

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. In 1964 singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Gary Rossington and drummer Bob Burns got to know one another through baseball, and with guitarist Allen Collins and bassist Larry Junstrom they started a band. After names such as My Backyard and The One Percent they chose Leonard Skinnerd in 1968, a mocking reference to a gym teacher who made life difficult for boys with long hair. Later that became the idiosyncratic spelling Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Music and breakthrough

In 1972 the producer Al Kooper discovered the band. The debut (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) was released in 1973, with Free Bird on it. A tour as the opening act for The Who made the group bigger, and Second Helping (1974) brought the breakthrough with Sweet Home Alabama. That song was an answer to Southern Man by Neil Young, who had criticised the American South. Even so, Young and Van Zant were friends and fans of each other's music. The band blended country, blues and British rock into a southern sound of its own, with three guitarists who alternate and play together.

Influence

On 20 October 1977 the band's chartered plane crashed. Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backing singer Cassie Gaines were killed, and the others were seriously injured. In 1987 the band carried on with Ronnie's brother Johnny as singer. Lynyrd Skynyrd made southern rock popular and has been in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2006.

Listening

• 
  Sweet Home Alabama · Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1974
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1973(pronounced ’lĕh-’nérd ’skin-’nérd)
• 1974Second Helping
• 1975Nuthin’ Fancy
• 1976Gimme Back My Bullets
• 1977Street Survivors
• 19911991
• 1993The Last Rebel
• 1994Endangered Species
• 1997Twenty
• 1999Edge of Forever
• 2000Christmas Time Again
• 2003Vicious Cycle
• 2009God & Guns
• 2012Last of a Dyin’ Breed
• ?Karaoke in the Style of Lynyrd Skynyrd

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 4: When Rock Was Still Pop^NL Reader

Mentioned in other articles

• Southern rock GenreLynyrd Skynyrd from Jacksonville, Florida, made Sweet Home Alabama (1974) as a reply to two songs by Neil Young.
• Sweet Home Alabama SongIn June 1974 Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd of Jacksonville was released, an answer to Southern Man and Alabama by Neil Young.
• Sex on Fire SongThey grew up in the American South and began with southern rock, in the line of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

See also

• Sex on Fire
• (pronounced ’lĕh-’nérd ’skin-’nérd)
• Nuthin’ Fancy
• Gimme Back My Bullets
• Street Survivors