Musician. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he was the lead singer and a founding member of the 1970s Southern rock band "Lynyrd Skynyrd." Together with guitarist Allen Collins, he co-wrote many of the band's hit songs to include "The Ballad of Curtis Loew," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Saturday Night Special" and "Free Bird." On October 20, 1977, with band members Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines and assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, he was killed when the band's chartered flight to Baton Rouge crashed due to fuel exhaustion near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Due to the June 29, 2000, vandalizing of his original grave site, his casket was moved to this new cemetery. In 2006, Van Zant was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. In early 2022, he was finally laid to rest in a different family plot at Riverside Memorial Park Cemetery under a big oak tree overlooking a small lake.
Musician. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he was the lead singer and a founding member of the 1970s Southern rock band "Lynyrd Skynyrd." Together with guitarist Allen Collins, he co-wrote many of the band's hit songs to include "The Ballad of Curtis Loew," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Saturday Night Special" and "Free Bird." On October 20, 1977, with band members Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines and assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, he was killed when the band's chartered flight to Baton Rouge crashed due to fuel exhaustion near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Due to the June 29, 2000, vandalizing of his original grave site, his casket was moved to this new cemetery. In 2006, Van Zant was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. In early 2022, he was finally laid to rest in a different family plot at Riverside Memorial Park Cemetery under a big oak tree overlooking a small lake.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
Family Members
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