Ronald Wayne Van Zant (January 15, 1948 - October 20, 1977) [1] was an American singer, best known as the original lead vocalist, primary lyricist and a founding member of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Updated April 24, 2023 For years, Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant claimed he would die before 30. Then when he was still 29, he was killed in a brutal plane crash in the Mississippi woods. Tom Hill/Getty Images Ronnie Van Zant, a little over a year before the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash that killed him and several members of his band.
Hear Ronnie Van Zant At His Absolute Happiest While Sharing High Hopes For His Future
Ronnie Van Zant's bandmates were anxious as they prepared to board their leased plane at Greenville, South Carolina's Downtown Airport on the afternoon of October 20th, 1977. And they had good. Van Zant died instantly of blunt force trauma to the head. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, he was 28 years old. '.Pyle remembered that Van Zant retrieved a pillow on his way back to his seat, stopped, and shook Pyle's hand. "Ronnie knew that he was going to die."' On Oct. 20, 1977, Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd was killed in a plane crash. Watch as bandmates and friends reflect on this tragic day..more.more RandallTSkynyrd 741K views 11 years ago. Early in the flight, witnesses recall that lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant was lying on the floor with a pillow, having been up most of the previous night and being in need of sleep. Several other passengers passed the time by playing cards.
HardRockMusic80's Homenaje a Ronnie Van Zant
Birth name Ronald Wayne Van Zant Height 5′ 10¾″ (1.80 m) Mini Bio Ronnie Van Zant was born on January 15, 1948 in Jacksonville, Florida. He was the oldest son of six children (3 sisters and 2 brothers - musicians Donnie and Johnny). Ronnie attended Lee High School in Jacksonville with fellow band members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins. And as the world knows the plane went down Oct. 20, three days after the release of their Street Survivors album, killing singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines and severely injuring most everyone else. The album cover? Ronnie Van Zant was one of the founding members of the great southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Van Zant wasn't born in the sweet home of Alabama, but rather he was born and raised in. He survived the incident and admitted he was under the influence at the time, prompting bandmates Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins to write "That Smell" — an ominous tune warning "Say you.
Ronnie Van Zant 1977 Photograph by Lawrence Movera
Among the dead, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant. Guitarist Steve Gaines. Steve's sister Cassie, one of the Honkettes - Skynyrd's backing vocalists. Road manager Dean Kilpatrick and the aircraft's two pilots. Rossington doesn't need aches and pains to remind him of that day - it's something that will haunt him forever. The widow of Ronnie Van Zant, the late lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd, has confirmed to News4JAX that his final resting place has been moved to a new location in the same cemetery.
When the plane crashed, Ronnie Van Zant instantly died due to blunt force trauma to his head. Per Rolling Stone, the surviving members of the band weren't immediately told about Van Zant's death to allow them to heal from their grave injuries before hearing the devastating news. Skynyrd returned to the daily grind of one-nighters on the Southern bar circuit. Ronnie married Judy Seymour in Waycross, Georgia on November 18, 1972. They met in 1969 when Gary introduced Ronnie to Judy at a One Percent gig at the Comic Book Club in Jacksonville. Several of the players in Lynyrd Skynyrd had now married and the time was.
Was Ronnie Van Zant Slated To The Next Great American Country Legend?
July 18, 2018 Members of Southern Rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd (L-R Leon Wilkeson, Billy Powell, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins) pose by their trailer backstage at an outdoor. Lynyrd Skynyrd said their 2003 album Vicious Cycle was "of the same calibre" as Street Survivors, and that Ronnie Van Zant would have wanted them to keep on rocking. The free birds were still flying, but considerably older and wiser. Gary Rossington and Billy Powell had both recently turned 50 years old, were currently clean of drugs.
