Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964. The group became one of the defining acts of Southern rock by combining blues-based guitar work, country and honky-tonk influences, hard-rock power, and a strong sense of regional identity. Its best-known songs include "Free Bird," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Simple Man," "Tuesday's Gone," "That Smell," and "What's Your Name."
The band's earliest lineup grew from a friendship between vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Gary Rossington, and drummer Bob Burns. Guitarist Allen Collins and bassist Larry Junstrom later joined, and the musicians performed under several names, including My Backyard, The Noble Five, and The One Percent. They adopted the name Lynyrd Skynyrd in the late 1960s as a teasing tribute to Jacksonville high-school physical education teacher Leonard Skinner, who was known for enforcing school rules concerning students' long hair.
After years of touring small clubs, the group came to the attention of musician and producer Al Kooper. He signed the band to MCA Records and produced its debut album, (Pronounced 'Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd'), released in 1973. The record introduced Lynyrd Skynyrd's expansive three-guitar approach, with Ed King joining Rossington and Collins. It also established Van Zant as a direct, observant songwriter whose characters and settings were drawn from working-class Southern life. "Free Bird," an extended ballad that develops into a lengthy guitar-led finale, became the band's signature performance and a lasting classic-rock standard.
The follow-up album, Second Helping, appeared in 1974 and produced "Sweet Home Alabama," the band's most commercially successful single. Written in response to Neil Young's critical references to the South, the song combined celebration, defensiveness, and irony in a compact, highly memorable arrangement. Subsequent albums, including Nuthin' Fancy, Gimme Back My Bullets, and One More from the Road, strengthened the band's reputation as a major live attraction. Changes in the lineup brought drummer Artimus Pyle into the group and later added guitarist Steve Gaines, whose playing and songwriting became important to the band's final classic-era recordings.
On October 20, 1977, a chartered airplane carrying the band between performances crashed near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines were killed, while the surviving members suffered serious injuries. The tragedy ended Lynyrd Skynyrd's original run shortly after the release of Street Survivors, whose initial cover depicted the band surrounded by flames. The cover was later redesigned.
Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited in 1987 with Johnny Van Zant, Ronnie's younger brother, as lead vocalist. The reunion lineup included surviving members and musicians connected to the band's earlier history, while Allen Collins participated despite injuries that had left him paralyzed. The group continued to tour and record, including the albums Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991, Twenty, God & Guns, and Last of a Dyin' Breed. In later years, the band increasingly functioned as a living presentation of its established repertoire, with Rickey Medlocke and other long-serving musicians helping maintain its sound and stage identity.
Gary Rossington, the last surviving original member, died on March 5, 2023. Lynyrd Skynyrd nevertheless continued performing with a later lineup, preserving the catalog that helped define Southern rock and connecting its music with successive generations of listeners.