Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom and Bob Burns (drums). The band spent five years touring small venues under various names and with several lineup changes before deciding on "Lynyrd Skynyrd" in 1969. The band released its first album in 1973, having settled on a lineup that included bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboardist Billy Powell and guitarist Ed King. Burns left and was replaced by Artimus Pyle in 1974. King left in 1975 and was replaced by Steve Gaines in 1976. At the height of their fame in the 1970s, the band popularized the Southern rock genre with songs such as "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird". After releasing five studio albums and one live album, the band's career was abruptly halted on October 20, 1977, when their chartered airplane crashed, killing Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines, and seriously injuring the rest of the band.
Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell. Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, also managed Bad Company until 1982.
Michael Geoffrey Ralphs is an English musician, vocalist and songwriter, who was a founding member of rock bands Mott the Hoople and Bad Company.
Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit is a jazz fusion group founded by Col. Bruce Hampton. The band gained popularity in the Atlanta club scene in the early 1990s and went on to tour with the first H.O.R.D.E. Tour. During their formative years, the band was composed of Bruce Hampton, Oteil Burbridge, Jimmy Herring, Jeff Sipe, Matt Mundy, and Count M'Butu. Jeff Mosier and Charlie Williams were members of the band during the early years, but left to pursue other endeavors. Although the band was never commercially successful, their combination of bluegrass, rock, Latin, blues, jazz, funk, and impeccable chops became a template for future bands.
Steven Earl Gaines was an American musician. He is best known as a guitarist and backing vocalist with rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1976 until his death in the October 1977 airplane crash that claimed other band members and crew. His older sister Cassie Gaines, a backup vocalist with the band, also died in the crash.
Jimmy Herring is the lead guitarist for the band Widespread Panic. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz Is Dead and has played with The Allman Brothers Band, Project Z, Derek Trucks Band, Phil Lesh and Friends, and The Dead.
Larkin Allen Collins Jr. was an American guitarist. He was one of the founding members and guitarists of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and co-wrote many of the band's songs with frontman and original lead singer Ronnie Van Zant. He was born in Jacksonville, Florida.
Oteil Burbridge is an American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band from 1997 through 2014, and as a founding member of the band Dead & Company. Burbridge was also a founding member of The Aquarium Rescue Unit and Tedeschi Trucks Band, with whom his brother Kofi Burbridge was the keyboardist and flautist. He has worked with other musicians including Bruce Hampton, Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Bill Kreutzmann and Derek Trucks.
(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) is the debut album by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released in 1973. Several of the album's songs remain among the band's most well-known: "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", "Tuesday's Gone", and "Free Bird", the last of which launched the band to national stardom.
William Norris Powell was an American musician and keyboardist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 until his death in 2009.
Michael Lee Firkins is an American electric guitar player, whose sound fuses bluegrass, country, blues, and jazz elements, into his distorted rock sound. He is noted amongst guitarists for his prolific use of hybrid picking at high speeds.
The Codetalkers were a jazz, rock and roll band from Savannah, Georgia, composed of Bobby Lee Rodgers,, Mark Raudabaugh and Andrew Altman. The band was formed in 1999, upon the meeting of Rodgers and Col. Bruce Hampton at a show at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta. The group toured for many years as a four-piece with the lineup of Rodgers, Hampton, Greenwell and Pecchio. In the spring of 2006, the band announced they would be touring without Hampton, who was stepping down for a multitude of reasons. The band was aiming to undertake a heavy touring schedule in support of their recent release, in which Hampton was unwilling and unable to participate. He had lent his name to the project for years in order to help Rodgers gain the recognition Hampton felt he deserved, but as a touring musician for 40 years, the grueling demands that a national tour would place on him didn't seem very alluring. Coincidentally, just as this announcement was to be made, Hampton trumped the press release by citing his own health reasons for leaving the band.
David Lawrence "Dave" Hlubek was the American guitarist who was the lead guitarist and founding member of the Southern rock band Molly Hatchet.
Jazz is Dead is an instrumental Grateful Dead cover band that interprets classic Dead songs with jazz influences. The group is notable in featuring veterans of jazz and jazz fusion ensembles. The group's composition has changed over time, and T Lavitz was the band's only constant member until they reformed in 2015.
Damon Rogers Johnson is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, currently a solo artist and member of Thin Lizzy. In the 1990s he co-founded Brother Cane, and later joined Alice Cooper's band as lead guitarist. He was also the lead guitarist and co-songwriter for hard rock group Black Star Riders from 2012 to 2018. Johnson has also released several solo albums and his songs have been recorded by many artists including Stevie Nicks and Carlos Santana.
Thomas Delmer "Artimus" Pyle is an American musician who played drums with the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1974 to 1977 and from 1987 to 1991. He and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
Joe Krown is an American keyboardist, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is currently touring all over the U.S. and the world as the organ/piano player for the multi award winning, chart topping Kenny Wayne Shepherd band. He is a New Orleans styled piano and Hammond B3 player. He is a Hammond endorsed artist and is part of the Hammond artist family. Joe's played at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival as a feature artist every year since 2001 and the French Quarter Festival every year since 1998. He has been nominated twice and won a 2000 New Orleans Big Easy Award in the Blues category. His trio with Johnny Sansone & John Fohl has also won a 2004 New Orleans Big Easy Award in the Blues category. His Hammond organ trio featuring Louisiana guitarist Walter “Wolfman” Washington won a 2009 New Orleans Big Easy Award in the Blues Category and a 2009 OffBeat Award for Best R&B/Funk Album. In April 2014, he was honored with a Piano Legacy Award, presented by the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and for being a "Master of Piano".
Wanee Festival was an annual event held 2005 - 2018 at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, in Live Oak, Florida. The festival was hosted by the Allman Brothers Band until 2014 and was managed by Live Nation. On November 5, 2018, it was announced via the Wanee website that the festival would not be occurring at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in 2019, citing the religious holidays of Easter and Passover as the reason the festival was cancelled. No plans for future Wanee Festivals have been announced.
The Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour is a concert tour by American Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. It is intended to be the final tour conducted by the band. It began May 4, 2018, at the Coral Sky Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Florida and was scheduled to end on October 24, 2020, at Epic Center Festival in Charlotte, North Carolina. The band utilized a plethora of opening acts, including Bad Company, Kid Rock, and Hank Williams Jr., throughout the tour.
