What happened to Lynyrd Skynyrd? Mississippi plane crash anniversary in October

October 20th will mark the 47th anniversary of the plane crash of Southern rock icons Lynyrd Skynyrd.

"Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird" are Lynyrd Skynyrd's most notable songs. Here are other things to know about Lynyrd Skynyrd and the crash:

How Lynyrd Skynyrd got its name

At least not entirely, though many think gym teacher Leonard Skinner was the inspiration for the band's name. Their decision was confirmed when they noticed a lyric from folk song satirist Allan Sherman’s early 1960s hit, “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadda” (“You remember Leonard Skinner? / He got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner.”)

Van Zant’s nickname foreshadowed his death

Van Zant’s friends called him the Mississippi Kid. When asked why, he always replied that he had no idea. He eventually would lose his life in Mississippi when the band’s plane plunged into thick forest outside Gillsburg.

For I must be traveling on now

The band had charted a propeller-driven Convair 240 to travel from Greenville, South Carolina to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to play a concert at Louisiana State University, according to The (McComb) Enterprise Journal. According to reports, the plane ran out of fuel and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing.

The crash killed six people, including Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and Steve's sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines. Pilot Walter Wiley McCreary and co-pilot William John Gray, both of Dallas, and the band's assistant road manager, Dean Kilpatric, died as well. Twenty others on the plane were injured.

Things just couldn't be the same

After the crash, the band went on a 10-year hiatus. In 1987 they reunited for a world tour with Ronnie Van Zant's brother, Johnny, taking over on lead vocals. Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and continues to tour. Guitarist Gary Rossington was the last founding member of the band. Rossington died in 2023. He was 71.