Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: How old was Ronnie Van Zant?
Ronald Wayne Van Zant (January 15, 1948 – October 20, 1977) was an American lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and founding member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was the older brother of two other rock vocalists: current Lynyrd Skynyrd lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant, and Donnie Van Zant, the founder and vocalist of 38 Special. He was the father of Tammy Van Zant and Melody Van Zant.[1]
He was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, to Lacy Austin (1915–2004) and Marion Virginia (Hicks) Van Zant (1929–2000). Ronnie aspired to be many things before finding his love for music. Idolising boxer Muhammad Ali, he considered a career in the ring, and while playing American Legion baseball dreamed of Minor League success.[2] Referring to a local NASCAR legend, he would say that he was going to be the most famous person to come out of Jacksonville since stock car champion Lee Roy Yarbrough.
The song is memorable for its lyrics and simple blues guitar riff. The song is sung by Ronnie Van Zant, about a man begging the bank for money to bury his father. Despite misconceptions, the song is not about Van Zant's father, Lacy Van Zant.
Van Zant married Nadine Inscoe on January 2, 1967. Around this time, Van Zant also worked at his brother-in-law's auto parts store, Morris Auto Parts in Jacksonville. It was said that Van Zant was a virtual catalog of automotive parts, he had a near photographic memory for them. The couple had a daughter named Tammy, before divorcing in 1969; Tammy would become a musician. He married Judy Seymour in 1972 after meeting her at The Comic Book Club through Gary Rossington in 1969.[2] (The club closed in 1975 and is now a parking garage.)[12] They remained married up until his death in 1977. They had one daughter, Melody, born in 1976. Judy Van Zant-Jenness founded the Freebird Live in 1999, a music venue located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. It features Lynyrd Skynyrd memorabilia and is co-owned by Melody Van Zant. She married Jim Jenness and founded and ran The Freebird Foundation until its dissolution in 2001.
Early in the flight, witnesses recall that vocalist Ronnie Van Zant was lying on the floor with a pillow as he nursed a mild hangover. Several other passengers passed the time by playing cards. At some point the passengers became aware that something was wrong, and drummer Artimus Pyle recalls entering the cabin and being told by a terrified pilot Walter McCreary to go back and strap himself in. With the gravity of the situation clear, the band sat in silence, praying. Guitarist Gary Rossington recalls hearing what sounded like hundreds of baseball bats hitting the plane's fuselage as it began striking trees. The sound got louder and louder until Rossington was knocked unconscious; he awoke some time later on the ground with the plane's door on top of him. The crash occurred only 300 yards short of the airstrip. Lead singer/founding member Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and copilot William Gray all died in the crash. Most of the survivors had been seated toward the back of the plane. The survivors, all of whom were seriously injured, were transported to different hospitals for treatment and were not immediately aware of the fatalities. Days later, Rossington was informed in hospital by his mother that Van Zant had been killed.
Cassie Gaines had been so fearful of flying in the Convair that she had preferred to travel in the band's cramped equipment truck instead, but Van Zant convinced her to board the plane on October 20. Keyboard player Billy Powell's nose was nearly torn off as he suffered severe facial lacerations and deep lacerations to his right leg. Decades later, Powell gave an account of the flight's final moments on a VH1 "Behind The Music" special. He said Van Zant, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown violently from his seat and died immediately when his head impacted a tree as the plane broke apart. Some elements of Powell's version of the events, however, have been disputed by both drummer Artimus Pyle and Van Zant's widow Judy Van Zant Jenness, who posted the autopsy reports on the band's web site in early 1998, while confirming other aspects of Powell's account. Pyle suffered broken ribs but managed to leave the crash site and notify a nearby resident.
According to former bandmate Artimus Pyle and family members, Van Zant frequently discussed his mortality. Pyle recalls a moment when Lynyrd Skynyrd was in Japan: "Ronnie and I were in Tokyo, Japan, and Ronnie told me that he would never live to see thirty and that he would go out with his boots on, in other words, on the road. I said, 'Ronnie, don't talk like that,' but the man knew his destiny."[7] Van Zant's father, Lacy, said, "He said to me many times, 'Daddy, I'll never be 30 years old.' I said, 'Why are you talking this junk?' and he said, 'Daddy, that's my limit.'" Van Zant's father later noted that, "God was a jealous god. Taking him for reasons I don't know."[7] Ex-bandmate Ed King also reported hearing Van Zant saying he would never live to be 30 years old, saying Van Zant said it so often that he "had gotten sick of hearing it".[8] Lynyrd Skynyrd backup singer JoJo Billingsley recalled that Van Zant had begun referring to himself as "The Mississippi Kid" in the months before his death despite being born and raised in Florida. She noted that, eerily, Van Zant's only connection to Mississippi was the fact that he would ultimately die there.[9]
Van Zant had several run-ins with the law, most notably in 1975, when he was arrested for hurling a table out of a second-story hotel room window.[13][14]
"That Smell" is a song by the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Written by Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Allen Collins, it was released in 1977 on the album "Street Survivors". At the time the song was written, the band had been drinking and doing many different drugs. Van Zant had said that he started drinking heavily to relieve the pressure of performing in front of large audiences.
Johnny Roy Van Zant (born February 27, 1960) is an American musician and the current lead vocalist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He is the younger brother of the late Lynyrd Skynyrd co-founder and former lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, and of the 38 Special founder Donnie Van Zant.
Alt country band Drive-By Truckers also paid tribute to Ronnie and members of the original band on their Southern Rock Opera album.
Junstrom was the bass guitarist of Lynyrd Skynyrd from its formation in 1964, until being replaced by Leon Wilkeson in 1971. Donnie Van Zant, the younger brother of the Lynyrd Skynyrd leader, Ronnie Van Zant, formed .38 Special in 1974, with Junstrom joining as the bass guitarist in 1977.
Southern by the Grace of God is a live album by southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, this live concert was a tribute by Lynyrd Skynyrd to the members of the band who had died in the 1977 plane crash. The plane crash killed frontman Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines and road manager Dean Kilpatrick. This is the first album produced by the band after the '77 plane crash. The band's lineup was re-worked into a second-generation Skynyrd. The changes include: Johnny Van Zant, younger brother of Ronnie Van Zant, taking over on vocals, Ed King, who departed the band during a 1975 tour and Randall Hall, who replaced the paralyzed Allen Collins. The three (King, Hall along with founding member Gary Rossington) re-form the famous triple-lead guitar attack of the original band. New background vocalists Carol Bristow and Dale Krantz-Rossington were added to take the place of the original Honkettes.
The Ronnie Van Zant Memorial Park is a public memorial park located in Lake Asbury, Clay County, Florida. The park was built in memory of Ronnie Van Zant, vocalist of Southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, who died along with numerous other band members and crew in a 1977 plane crash. The park was funded by fans and family of the band, and features a number of facilities including tennis courts, fishing ponds, a disc golf course and picnic areas, among other amenities.
Van Zant is an American musical duo composed of brothers Donnie Van Zant and Johnny Van Zant. Both are brothers of the late Ronnie Van Zant, former lead singer for the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Johnny became the lead vocalist for the reunited Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1987, and Donnie was also the leader and vocalist of .38 Special.
The Ronnie Van Zant Memorial Park, funded by fans and family of the band, was built on Sandridge Road in Lake Asbury, Florida, nearby his hometown of Jacksonville.
The song features Ronnie Van Zant singing about how he is a troublemaker. Lyrics include "Double Trouble, is what my friends all call me". According to the book "Whiskey Bottles and Brand New Cars: The Fast Life and Sudden Death of Lynyrd Skynyrd" by Mark Ribowsky, the genesis for the song came from a time when Gary Rossington was in jail with Ronnie Van Zant and he asked him how many times he had been arrested, to which Van Zant replied eleven times. Rossington replied, "Man, you're double trouble". Also, according to Ribowsky, the band originally recorded under a record label called "Double T Productions" which stood for "Double Trouble". The song also features backup vocals from The Honkettes.
On October 20, 1977, a plane carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ran out of fuel outside Gillsburg, Mississippi. The passengers had been informed about potential problems with the Convair CV-240 and were told to brace for a crash.[5] Van Zant died on impact from head injuries suffered after the aircraft struck a tree. Bandmates Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines, along with assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray, were also killed. The rest of the band was seriously injured.[6] Van Zant was 29 years old.
Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, took over as the new lead singer when the band reunited in 1987.
Several members of his family have memorialized Ronnie in their music. His brothers Johnny and Donnie co-wrote the title track of John's 1990 album "Brickyard Road"[15] with family friend and album producer Robert White Johnson. In the reformed Lynyrd Skynyrd's music video for the posthumously-released track "What's Your Name" closes with a white hat similar to Ronnie's sitting atop a microphone. Ronnie's daughter Tammy, who was only 10 years old when he died, dedicated the album title track, "Freebird Child" as well as the music video to her father in 2009.[16] Jimmie Van Zant recorded the tribute track "Ronnie's Song" on the album Southern Comfort (2000).[17]
"The All-Night Bus Ride", the 8th episode of Season 1 of the Showtime series Roadies, was made in honor of Van Zant and the band.
Donald Newton "Donnie" Van Zant (born June 11, 1952, in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American rock vocalist/guitarist. He is best known for being a member of the band 38 Special, from its formation in 1974 until 2013. He is the middle of three sons of a truck driver. Older brother Ronnie was the original lead singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd; who died in a plane crash in Mississippi. Younger brother Johnny has been the lead singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd since 1987; the two also perform together from time to time as the group Van Zant.
The song features a softer rhythm to later songs and features Ronnie Van Zant singing about how important it is to have friends.
In 2014, Pyle was a guest performer on Eli Cook's album, "Primitive Son".
In June 2017, Pyle was sued by Ronnie Van Zant’s widow, Judy Van Zant, Gary Rossington, current Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Johnny Van Zant, and the representatives and heirs of Allen Collins and Steve Gaines. They claimed his involvement in a low-budget feature film about the band’s plane crash infringed upon a consent decree the band agreed to in 1988.
1977's "Street Survivors" turned out to be a showcase for guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, who had joined the band just a year earlier and was making his studio debut with them. Publicly and privately, Ronnie Van Zant marveled at the multiple talents of Skynyrd's newest member, claiming that the band would "all be in his shadow one day". Gaines' contributions included his co-lead vocal with Van Zant on the co-written "You Got That Right" and the rousing guitar boogie "I Know a Little", which he had written before he joined Skynyrd. So confident was Skynyrd's leader of Gaines' abilities that the album (and some concerts) featured Gaines delivering his self-penned bluesy "Ain't No Good Life" – the only song in the pre-crash Skynyrd catalog to feature a lead vocalist other than Ronnie Van Zant. The album also included the hit singles "What's Your Name" and "That Smell". The band was poised for their biggest tour yet, with shows always highlighted by the iconic rock anthem "Free Bird". In November, the band was scheduled to fulfill Van Zant's lifelong dream of headlining New York's Madison Square Garden.
The song is sung by Ronnie Van Zant, who lived in the Southern United States and is commenting on recent developments occurring at the time. In the song's chorus, Van Zant states that he "can see the concrete slowly creeping," the concrete representing the industrial development of the South. The singer also seems to have a great love for the South and mentions that "you can take a boy out of old Dixieland, but you'll never take old Dixie from a boy."