BILLY POWELLBilly Powell, the keyboard player with American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died on 28 January, 2009, aged 56.He survived an air crash in 1977 that took the lives of lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and other crew members.Powell was credited for creating the intro for their epic anthem “Free Bird”.He joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1972, although the band had been around in various incarnations since 1964.The band are said to have named themselves after their high school gym coach Leonard Skinner and became a household name.They grew to become the most popular Southern Rock band of all time, topping the charts regularly in the 1970s.Gary Rossington, Ed King and Allen Collins played guitar, Leon Wilkeson was on bass, Billy Powell played keyboards, with Ronnie Van Zant on lead vocals.William Norris "Billy" Powell was born on 3 June, 1952 and grew up in a military family, his father being in the navy. After time in Italy he moved back to Florida upon his father's death when he was eight, took piano lessons and at school met up with future Skynyrd bassist Leon Wilkeson, the two becoming firm friends.Legend has it that in 1972, as a roadie for the band, Powell sat down at a piano on stage, played his own version of Freebird, and was signed up by lead singer Ronnie Van Zant on the spot.In 1974 they produced what many consider the band’s finest album, Second Helping.Then the band’s 1976 release, One More From The Road, featured the classic live version of “Free Bird.”The band continued to excel, releasing Street Survivors towards the end of 1977.But then tragedy struck when the band’s aeroplane crashed on October 20 that year.The iconic lead singer Ronnie Van Zant was killed, and guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and backup singer Cassie Gaines and other crew members also died.Billy Powell, whose nose was almost severed in the accident, was the first to be discharged from hospital and was the only Skynyrd musician to attend his bandmates’ funerals.The crash was widely seen as the end of Lynyrd Skynyrd's creative progress and during the10-year break before the big reunion of 1987, Powell joined a Christian rock band, Vision.When the band reassembled, Ronnie's younger brother Johnnie took over on vocals and while fans lapped up the music and showmanship, it was never the same again.Tragedy struck again when guitarist Allen Collins was paralysed in a car crash that killed his girlfriend. He remained involved as musical director but died in 1990 after a bout of pneumonia.In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the group at No 95 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.Billy Powell died of a suspected heart attack at home in Orange Park, Florida.
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