There's a commonly used phrase about living one's life on borrowed time'. And it applied to Gary Rossington more than most. In surviving Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane crash on October 20, 1977, the guitarist was given an extra 46 years to live. Six members of the iconic southern rock group and support team-frontman Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backing singer Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick and pilot and co-pilot Walter McCreary and William John Gray - were not so fortunate.
A God-fearing man like Rossington might even say that the Lord had handed second lives to him, fellow guitarist Allen Collins, bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboard player Billy Powell, drummer Artimus Pyle and backing singer Leslie Hawkins.
In the short term and over the decades that followed, the crash affected each of the survivors in different ways. For Billy Powell, a long-term victim of bullying from the hot-headed Van Zant, whose strong-arm tactics had quite literally knocked the fledgling band from students at the Robert E Lee High School into arena-headlining shape, his immediate knee-jerk reaction was one of relief.
"As time went by I'd kinda forgiven Ronnie for [knocking out] my teeth, but right before the plane crash I was getting fed up with it all," Powell told me in a 2003 interview. "When that plane came down, I wasn't knocked unconscious like all the rest. One of my first thoughts was: 'Thank God it's over-I don't have to get beaten up any more. It didn't last long. Of course, I wanted the beating to stop, but not like it did."
In later life, after the band broke up -seemingly for good- Artimus Pyle, who with injuries including broken ribs had crawled from the crash site through the woods to seek help, became a pilot. This was doubly impressive considering the drummer's father had also perished in an aviation disaster.
Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Classic Rock.
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Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Classic Rock.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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BORN TO RUM
Dragging traditional folk into the rock sphere while on the precipice of international stardom, The Pogues looked like a chaotically ramshackle and dysfunctional unit in the mid-80s with second album Rum, Sodomy & The Lash. In reality they were a resolutely determined hard-working band.
THE VAGABONDS RETURN
With the release of Thin Lizzy's new Acoustic Sessions, with Phil Lynott's 70sera vocals, guitarist Eric Bell and producer Richard Whittaker tell us about grassaddled sessions, unfinished business and why this project definitely isn't Al.
"I WANTED A GROUP WITH GRIT.EXCITEMENT AND EDGE"
Between two spells with Deep Purple, singer lan Gillan led two of his own bands, with great success. Here he looks back at Gillan, and how intra-band friction tore that group apart.
KILLERS, BEASTS, SLAVES, SONS. SOULS...
With Iron Maiden celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, we talk to all the members of the band and look back over the successes, trials, tribulations, thrills, spills and genre-defining records of the longest-running and arguably greatest heavy metal band of them all.
“LIKE HAVING A BRICK WALL COMING AT YOU!"
In 1974 King Crimson released Red, one of their most underrated albums at the time. On its 50th anniversary, Crimson alumni discuss the continued allure of an album
Ricky Warwick
The Almighty frontman on his new solo album, digging Northern soul, his good work ethic, quitting drinking...
Shaman's Harvest
They've come through life-changing adversity. They know how to party. They're finally coming over here...
Last Train
With album number three they're hoping to pull into stations outside their native France.
The Knack My Sharona
The LA band's stuttering rocker with the dirty m-m-mind, about someone who for co-writer Doug Fieger was \"love at fist sight\", was one of the biggest hits of 1979.
SONGS OF INNOCENCE, SONGS OF EXPERIENCE
Moving to a new studio, and with band members taking on new roles, with their new album The Manic Street Preachers continue to innovate and experiment.
