Theyre haunted by the spectre of what could have been. [b][8] The band later rehearsed in Junstrom's carport after Burns' parents said the band was too loud. Former Skynyrd guitarist Ed King drove through the night arriving the next morning to see the members of the band he left in the middle of the night two years before. Drummer Artimus Pyle and two crew members managed to crawl from the wreckage of the aircraft and hiked through the woods until they waved down a local farmer, who sent for help. From an early age he taught his eldest son Ronnie named after his favourite movie star Ronald Reagan not only knew how to fight but how to hurt. The band, playing countless bar dates around Florida and eventually beyond, evolved into a seven-piece with three guitars Mr. Rossington, Allen Collins and Ed King (later replaced by Steve Gaines) backing Mr. Van Zants vocals. Can you imagine all these women sitting around a table in the house and none of them knowing if their husbands were alive or dead after theyd been in this plane crash? WebLynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Autopsy Photos. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Current one is: October 20. WebOn October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-240 passenger aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed in a wooded area near Gillsburg, Mississippi, United States. He rejoined the band shortly after the album's release at Van Zant's invitation and is pictured on the album cover. Bunch of idiots dancing on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.". The site TennesseeConcerts.com lets interested persons read about the crash as it was covered in real-time by the local paper, the Enterprise-Journal. They were contenders. It also gave them a hunger and a drive and a motivation. Tom On January 8, 2020, Rossington stated in an interview that while they would no longer be touring, they will continue to play occasional live shows. Drive west on MS-568 for 7.5 miles. The tail section broke off, the cockpit broke off and buckled underneath, and both wings broke off. "When I heard that there had been a plane crash, I just knew Ronnie was one of the ones that didnt make it, Judy Van Zant Jenness recalls. Steves sister Cassie, one of the Honkettes Skynyrds backing vocalists. I went down to meet with Gregg, who wanted to join up with them. That anthem-turned-albatross began life as a wistful love song about a man who was trying to extricate himself from a claustrophobic relationship. ", "Everyone felt safe with him. I know I drove a lot of people crazy but I wasnt going to put him in the ground and put dirt on him. Artimus, with a broken sternum and three of his ribs poking out of the skin in his chest, made his way to a farm house a painful three-quarters of a mile away, impelled by one thought. All Rights Reserved. [Watch], Lynyrd Skynyrd Postpone Dates for Their 2020 Farewell Tour Over Coronavirus, Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Documentary Street Survivors Set for Release, Lynyrd Skynyrd Announce 2020 Dates for Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass guitar), and Bob Burns (drums). Before 10 minutes had passed, Gary Rossington had joined Van Zant at the bottom of a bloody heap and the singer suffered facial injuries that required he wear sunglasses onstage. She hadnt been with the band at the beginning of the Street Survivor tour intimates say she had been fired because she was having an affair with the very married Allen Collins but according to Billingsley, Van Zant called her the night before their show in Greenville to come rejoin the band on the road. The band was poised for their biggest tour yet, with shows always highlighted by the iconic rock anthem "Free Bird". I saw them screaming and crying, and I saw fire. They toured Europe and the U.S. in 2009 with Keys on keyboards and Robert Kearns of the Bottle Rockets on bass; bassist Ean Evans died of cancer at age 48 on May 6, 2009. Lacy came up and reached down and scooped up a handful of the dirt and wiped it across my mouth and said, Kiss this ground youre walking on. Other band members (Collins, Rossington, Wilkeson, Powell, Pyle, and Hawkins), tour manager Ron Eckerman, and several road crew members suffered serious injuries. Even though you could play, you leave the space and room.. Suzanne Cordeiro/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. The band settled on the name My Backyard, later changed to Conquer the Worm for a day or two, then The Noble Five,[9] and finally The One Percent by 1968. With their tales of beautiful losers, thwarted romance and dashed ambition, Skynyrd were a more menacing bunch. Rossingtons broken bones healed long ago, but they still ache when the weather turns cold or rainy. [26] Though the album fared well, it ultimately had lower sales than its predecessors. I called everybody on the list. Theresa [Gaines] decided she wanted Steve and Cassie there too., She wasnt the only one who had trouble keeping it together. [24] During their peak years, most of their records sold over one million copies, but "Sweet Home Alabama" was the only single to crack the top ten. Thirty-five years ago Saturday, a plane carrying the band Lynyrd Skynyrd ran out of fuel and crashed in Gillsburg, Miss., killing six people, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and siblingsguitarist Steve Gaines and vocalist Cassie Gaines. Ronnie used to say, youre in charge of the crew and whatever you say goes. She looks off into the distance, pushing a strand of blonde hair off of her eyes. After Wilkeson rejoined, King stayed in the band and switched solely to guitar, allowing the band to replicate its three-guitar studio mix in live performances. Webfilm: Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash (2020)by: @rocknroll.ig Van Zant and his band became known as offstage boozers and brawlers who would fight among themselves if no external adversaries were available. It felt like we were being hit with baseball bats in a tin coffee can with the lid on, says Billy Powell, his voice still breathless in the telling. Elson was also on that rented twin-engine plane the day it fell out of the Mississippi sky. Paralysing car wrecks. [23], Lynyrd Skynyrd's fan base continued to grow rapidly throughout 1973, largely due to their opening slot on the Who's Quadrophenia tour in the United States. We want vectors to McComb [airfield] poste-haste please, sir. Approximately 13 minutes later, however, the plane crashed just outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi. The band spent five years touring To replace him, Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King joined the band and played bass on the album (the only part that Wilkeson had not already written being the solo section in "Simple Man"), and also contributed to the songwriting and did some guitar work on the album. The other band members and members of the road crew suffered devastating injuries. They hadnt even finished receiving their directions when the left engine also went and the small plane began its death glide into the Mississippi swamp. Liking what they heard, they immediately decided to form a band. With their take-no-prisoners attitude, Skynyrd earned themselves a formidable reputation as contenders. During Vision concerts, Powell's trademark keyboard talent was often spotlighted and he spoke about his conversion to Christianity after the near-fatal plane crash. They were naturally a bit crazy in various ways and all that meeting with The Who did was light the fuse. Lacy Van Zant wore a Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt to the 10-minute long funeral service, and had to be hospitalised for nervous exhaustion for three days afterward. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. By 8.30 hed be putting his charges through their paces in workdays that regularly ran eight to 12 hours; sometimes they wouldnt straggle back until the next morning. The temper of the Van Zants. The first of course was to take care of Melody [the couples daughter]; the second was not to worry about Allen and Gary, that they could take care of themselves. WebAfter the plane crash in 1977 that killed Lynyrd Skynyrd band members, Ronnie Van Zant's widow allowed the band to still use the Lynyrd Skynyrd name as long as there were at travis mcmichael married The pain, the scars, the metal rod in one arm frequent reminders of October 20, 1977, the day Lynyrd Skynyrds plane went down near McComb, Mississippi. Original drummer Bob Burns died aged 64 on April 3, 2015; his car crashed into a tree while he was driving alone near his home in Cartersville, Georgia. Fate takes you on whatever road it wants. He was always the first one to reach into his pocket.. Skynyrd transcended the southern rock genre with their swaggering, dangerous music that conjured the dark fury of betrayal, perfidy or just plain orneriness and hopelessness over the diminished prospects in the rural south. [39], The reunited band was intended to be a one-time tribute to the original lineup, captured on the double-live album Southern by the Grace of God: Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour 1987. That lineup released a second post-reunion album, entitled The Last Rebel in 1993. He picked up his bleary-eyed and grumbling troops in his battered old 55 Chevy truck every morning at 7.30am, stopping for jugs of coffee at the donut shop where his mother worked. [21] The album featured the hit song "Free Bird", which received national airplay,[22] eventually reaching No. WebHere are 10 facts about Lynyrd Skynyrd and their fateful end. They took anything that said Lynyrd Skynyrd. ", "Face to Face: Lynyrd Skynyrd Talks Southern Roots", Fans' outrage prompts Lynyrd Skynyrd to keep Confederate flag, "Lynyrd Skynyrd Cancel Concerts Because of 'Medical Emergency'", "Ed King, former guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd who co-wrote 'Sweet Home Alabama', dead at 68", "KAABOO Texas Announces Daily Artist Lineup", "Review of the Kaaboo Texas music festival at AT&T Stadium | Fort Worth Star-Telegram", "Here Are Hundreds More Artists Whose Tapes Were Destroyed in the UMG Fire", "Gary Rossington, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Last Original Member, Dead at 71", "Lynyrd Skynyrd's Last Surviving Original Member Dead at 71", https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02jkWSTqfygP7cVGb4dWBge5ggpWTQRf6MmVwozNhaWQ8McgqTHEs4sWKYdwwswyrCl&id=100044224219653&mibextid=qC1gEa, "Lynyrd Skynyrd Will Continue Touring in 2023", "At a Hall of Fame Induction, Chords, and a Little Discord", "Lynyrd Skynyrd | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame", "Lynyrd Skynyrd Gets Country Tribute From Eric Church, Jamey Johnson", "Lynyrd Skynyrd History official website", "Lynyrd Skynyrd Biopic 'Street Survivors' Ready To Rock", "'If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd': Film Review |SXSW 2018", "If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd", "IF I LEAVE HERE TOMORROW: LYNYRD SKYNYRD BIOPIC SETS THE STORY STRAIGHT AT SXSW 2018 (BAND INTERVIEW)", "Freebird Live Premier Live Concert Venue Jacksonville Beach, FL", "Skynyrd History Lessons Name Changes and Ten Dollar Gigs", Recording Industry Association of America, "Aircraft Accident Report L & J Company, Convair 240, N55VM, Gillsburg, Mississippi, October20, 1977", Lynyrd Skynyrd: Behind The Music Remastered, "Photos: Remembering Leonard Skinner, namesake of Jacksonville rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd", Skynyrd's First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Album, 20th Century Masters: The Best of Lynyrd Skynyrd, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lynyrd_Skynyrd&oldid=1148253145, Southern rock musical groups from Jacksonville, Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2023, Articles lacking reliable references from October 2022, Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2021, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2021, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, In 2010, another country tribute album was produced, primarily by. At the last minute his plans had changed, and he decided to meet the band in Baton Rouge. Van Zant had written the song as a cautionary tale to his band members, inspired by Rossingtons near-fatal 1977 car crash and the feeling that some of them were pissing away their future with excessive drinking, drugging, and carousing. Van Zant took umbrage to the intrusion, and lost no time in raising his fists and thumping the intruder on the side of his head. Burns, whod been playing poorly and suffering Van Zants wrath regularly, freaked and tossed the hotels beloved resident cat out his fourth floor window, making for a grisly kitty cat splat outside the establishments front door. Ronnie Van Zant's widow, Judy Van Zant Jenness, operates a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute website for the educational purpose of sharing the original Lynyrd Skynyrd band's history. [59], Rossington, the last original member of the band, died on March 5, 2023, though no cause of death was given. But the new band did play Free Bird at its shows. And the third was he wanted me to know that he was okay. You know, prior to starting the Survivor tour, Ronnie gave my brother EC his best black hat and a beautiful ring that he used to wear. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The horror of all these women waiting to hear if their husbands were dead? The pilot radioed to the Houston [Texas] Air Route Traffic Control Center, telling the staff they were low on fuel, and requested vectors for a tiny airstrip in McComb, Mississippi. [17], During this time, the band experienced some lineup changes for the first time. When we get on that stage its war, Van Zant told me in 1975. Members were still working on the band's fifteenth album at the time of Rossington's 2023 death.[4]. I had a couple of grand that was taken. Marks the swampy spot where Lynyrd Skynyrd's tour plane crashed on Oct. 20, 1977, killing six and surprisingly not killing the other 20 on board. Allen was great. The band released another album, Edge of Forever in 1999. Plus I was amused because he left his shoes on the side of the stage. I woke up screaming, and my mom came running in going, Honey what is it? I said Mama, I dreamed the plane crashed! And she said, No honey, its just a dream. And I said No mom, its too real!, They had already sent me the itinerary, so the next day I called Greenville. Gary Rossington playing with Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Fox Theater in Atlanta in 1976, a year before a plane crash killed three band members. I remember we were on the bus and Ronnie would be lying there with two pieces of raw meat on his eyes, and hed wear sunglasses during the show. Following the crash and the ensuing press, Street Survivors became the band's second platinum album and reached No. Somehow the band got through the two-week tour, but they made a point of putting Burns on a separate flight home. I was lying in the swamp, holding my nose on, thinking, Thank God this violence is over with., I loved and respected Ronnie Van Zant, says Pyle. Unnerved by the sight of a dirty, blood-drenched hippie running towards him, Mote fired a warning shotgun blast. At Burns' suggestion,[8] the group settled on Leonard Skinnerd, which was in part a reference to a character named "Leonard Skinner" in Allan Sherman's novelty song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh"[10] and in part a mocking tribute to P.E. In celebration, the band did four autograph signings throughout the southeast. Lynyrd Skynyrd were flying from Greenville, S.C., to Baton Rouge, La., on tour when their planereportedly ran out of fuel toward the end of the flight. At the time people were chilled when he sang: The smell of deaths around you. After the crash, the words took on a macabre, prescient feel. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Farewell tour, upcoming fifteenth album and the death of Rossington (2018present). On November 2, 2007, the band performed for a crowd of 50,000 people at the University of Florida's Gator Growl student-run pep rally in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium ("The Swamp" football stadium). Three days before the crash, the band had released its latest album, "Street Survivors," which originally featured a cover showing the band surrounded by flames (it was quickly changed). When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. He turned to me and said, Are you with me? I didnt have a choice but to come along, said Jeff Carlisi. While the plane crash (shockingly) didnt involve any fires, the image still brought the violent crash to mind, and fans were understandably distressed by this. The original cover for Street Survivors depicted the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd engulfed in flames, and MCA subsequently recalled it out of respect for those who had died and their families. They wanted to be crazier than [Keith] Moon; they wanted to be more everything than The Who. The planes crew, whom the National Transportation Safety Board would hold responsible for the mishap in the accident report issued eight months later, radioed Houston air-traffic control as the plane lost altitude, asking for directions to the nearest airfield. He said that he had three things to tell me. As stupid as it sounds, it just felt like he was there. After Allens wife died, he dove into a bottle and never came out, says Billy Powell. Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, took over as the new lead singer and primary songwriter. Growing up, we learned where not to play. Ed King remembers it another way. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Mr. Rossington was adept as a lead and also had a knack for adjusting his style to support the other guitarists when one of them was front and center. Over the years, other founding members of the band have died either duringor aftertheir time in the band. I can hear him singing.. Back in the day, we had three guitars and a keyboard, so thats all strings, he told the website Premier Guitar in 2017. I was touring with them quite a bit in Europe and I felt this was a band that could have gone all the way. Artimus Pyles dad had perished in a plane crash that chillingly resembled the one that felled the band, leaving from the same Greenville, South Carolina airport that the band did on that final flight. There were 24 passengers and 2 crew on board the aircraft. Charlesworth, however, chalks the plane crash up to just dumb bad luck. The Mods membership included J.R. Rice and Larry Steele. Chris Charlesworth was due to travel with the band on that ill-starred night of October 20, 1977. Alcohol. It grew to epic stature when they grafted on a mad combative closing coda that builds and tumbles on itself then doubles back again, making a nine-minute sonic edifice that stretches right across the Mason-Dixon line, purloining fills from Duane Allman and travelling all the way to London to sit at the right hand of Jeff Beck, siphoning off his Becks Bolero riffs. The plane was mired in almost three feet of swamp muck in the middle of a hardwood forest; the sun going down so rescue helicopters couldnt land. The result was a major retooling of the band's 'guitar army'. Ronnie was such a gentleman, he wouldnt let anybody mess with us, says Jo Jo Billingsley. They even went out and took the side of the plane that was painted Lynyrd Skynyrd., The thing I think of is the constant telephone calls with Judy Van Zant who was at Ronnies house, remembers Charlesworth. Thats where I would have sat, because I didnt know any of the crew, who sat in the back., We hit the trees at what seemed like 100 miles an hour. And walked off.. He formed the Allen Collins Band in 1983 from the remnants of the Rossington Collins Band and released one MCA studio album, Here, There & Back. [55], On January 25, 2018, Lynyrd Skynyrd announced their Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour, which started on May 4, 2018. He was bowled over by Skynyrds professionalism, arrangements, guitar work, and mostly by short and stocky lead singer Van Zant, who showed up in a black T-shirt and droopy jeans. Concerns over the flight crew led Aerosmith to look elsewherea decision that saved one band but doomed another. The man scrambled off the tour bus, with Van Zant in pursuit, only to be met by a crowd of the mans pals bigger, brawnier and more lethal than their friend. Ronnie was the only one of my children who had second sight, recalled his late father Lacy Van Zant in 1995. Silver bullets from Gimme Back My Bullets. WebRonald Wayne Van Zant (January 15, 1948 October 20, 1977) was an American singer, best known as the original lead vocalist, primary lyricist and a founding member of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.He was the older brother of current Lynyrd Skynyrd lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant and Donnie Van Zant, the founder and vocalist of the rock band .38 Special. With Koopers help, Skynyrd landed the support slot on the American leg of The Whos Quadrophenia tour. But you better be right. The guitarists would alternate as lead, sometimes in the same song. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). They all looked at Lacy through stitches and swelling and he told me not to say anything about Ronnie. The aircraft in question was instead chartered by the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, who were just setting out that autumn on a national tour that promised to be their biggest to date. Though it is not known with certainty which, if any, of the band's master recordings were lost in the blaze, Lynyrd Skynyrd was among the artists listed in an internal Universal Music Group document listing the artists whose master recordings the company believed had been lost and subsequently spent tens of millions of dollars trying to replace. They were like, I have this funny feeling about this. It didnt then. Judy Van Zant was there, as was Billy Powells ex-wife Stella. I think it was because he lived hard every day and anyone who does that like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix is gone by the time theyre 28 or 29. WebLynyrd Skynyrd (/ l n r d s k n r d / LEN-rd SKIN-rd) is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida.The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and Before you knew it, Rudge was managing Skynyrd. Fist fights, premonitions and a plane that fell from the sky. When we were in Japan and Jack Daniels was $75 a bottle, Ronnie said, Im buying. By then, they had settled on a lineup that included bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboardist Billy Powell, and guitarist Ed King. You could hear it in the antebellum taunt of Sweet Home Alabama, to the prosaic plea of Gimme Three Steps, and the stately requiem of Free Bird. And the whole front row would go Wow., As mean as he could be, there was a Jekyll and Hyde aspect to Ronnie Van Zant. Over the course of his life, Ronnie Van Zant was arrested 12 times five of them occurring during the last year of his life and he had suffered enough bruises of his own to show he didnt always pick on the little guy. I said, Well, we were planning to come to Little Rock anyway. WebAbout 18:55 CDT on October 20, 1977, Convair 240 N55VM Serial #3 owned and operated by the L&J Company of Addision, TX and transporting the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band from Greenville, SC to Baton Rouge, LA crashed five miles northeast of Gillsburg, MS. The bandmates, almost to a man, had lost their fathers early on. Lynyrd Skynyrd (/lnrd sknrd/ LEN-rd SKIN-rd)[2] is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour, Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash, The Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour, "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Inductees by Year: 2006", "Lynyrd Skynyrd's New 'If I Leave Here Tomorrow' Doc: 10 Things We Learned", Robert E. Lee High School history (archived), "The Official Lynyrd Skynyrd History Website History Lessons", "Leonard Skinner, Rock Band Muse, Dies at 77", "Tongue-in-cheek inspiration to Lynyrd Skynyrd dies at 77", "Robert Burns Jr., First Lynyrd Skynyrd Drummer, Dies at 64", "Aircraft Accident Report L and J Company, Convair 240, N55, Gillsburg, Mississippi, October 20, 1977", "The Lynyrd Skynyrd Album That Created Controversy For Foreseeing The Plane Crash", "Free Bird - The Charlie Daniels Band & Friends - Jan 13, 1979", "Lynyrd Skynyrd Honkette Dale Krantz-Rossington on TLC's 'Say Yes to the Dress', "Exclusive Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Pictures", "Woman Killed, Rock Musician Injured In One-Car Accident", "The Day Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitarist Allen Collins Was Paralyzed in a Car Accident", "Lynyrd Skynyrd Bassist Donald 'Ean' Evans Dead", "111,000 jam at Bama Jam with Lynryd Skynyrd, Hank Jr.", "The Day Lynyrd Skynyrd Pianist Billy Powell Died", "Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top join forces on tour", "Lynyrd Skynyrd to Release 'Last Of A Dying Breed,' Announce 2012 Tour", "Lynyrd Skynyrd autograph signing a complete success", "Is country music ready to dissociate from the Confederate flag? That same summer, according to a portrait of the band written for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted the group in 2006, another teenager, Ronnie Van Zant, was playing in a baseball game when he hit a foul ball that struck a spectator, Mr. Burns. But there was a lot of confidence with the pilot, Walter. In the warm early evening of October 20, 1977, a chartered twin-engine prop plane carrying members and crew of the popular musical group Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed in the forest near this marker. Or the time he knocked out two of Billy Powells teeth, not to mention the time he smashed a bottle and gored the back of Rossingtons hands in Hamburg, Germany, hissing Ill do it without you., What I recall most is Ronnie Van Zant wasnt the sort of person Id want to have an argument with, recalls Chris Charlesworth, a former Melody Maker journalist who became Skynyrds press officer. Allen Collins suffered another gut punch while he was onstage with his new band. But before that, he went up to Honkette Jo Jo Billingsley, and did something that unnerved her. Later this year the band is scheduled to tour with ZZ Top. [51] In September 2012, the band briefly did not display the Confederate flag, which had for years been a part of their stage show, because they did not want to be associated with racists that adopted the flag. Learned where not to say anything about ronnie wings broke off, the plane crash ``., she wasnt the only one of my children who had second sight, his! And she said, Im buying reputation as contenders is scheduled to tour with Top! He went up to just dumb bad luck, pushing a strand blonde. Support slot on the American leg of the band experienced some lineup changes for the first time its,... Me not to play claustrophobic relationship Junstrom 's carport after Burns ' said! Fist fights, premonitions and a motivation a dream at its shows would alternate as lead, sometimes in band! 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WebOn October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-240 passenger aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed in a wooded area near Gillsburg, Mississippi, United States. He rejoined the band shortly after the album's release at Van Zant's invitation and is pictured on the album cover. Bunch of idiots dancing on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.". The site TennesseeConcerts.com lets interested persons read about the crash as it was covered in real-time by the local paper, the Enterprise-Journal. They were contenders. It also gave them a hunger and a drive and a motivation. Tom On January 8, 2020, Rossington stated in an interview that while they would no longer be touring, they will continue to play occasional live shows. Drive west on MS-568 for 7.5 miles. The tail section broke off, the cockpit broke off and buckled underneath, and both wings broke off. "When I heard that there had been a plane crash, I just knew Ronnie was one of the ones that didnt make it, Judy Van Zant Jenness recalls. Steves sister Cassie, one of the Honkettes Skynyrds backing vocalists. I went down to meet with Gregg, who wanted to join up with them. That anthem-turned-albatross began life as a wistful love song about a man who was trying to extricate himself from a claustrophobic relationship. ", "Everyone felt safe with him. I know I drove a lot of people crazy but I wasnt going to put him in the ground and put dirt on him. Artimus, with a broken sternum and three of his ribs poking out of the skin in his chest, made his way to a farm house a painful three-quarters of a mile away, impelled by one thought. All Rights Reserved. [Watch], Lynyrd Skynyrd Postpone Dates for Their 2020 Farewell Tour Over Coronavirus, Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Documentary Street Survivors Set for Release, Lynyrd Skynyrd Announce 2020 Dates for Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass guitar), and Bob Burns (drums). Before 10 minutes had passed, Gary Rossington had joined Van Zant at the bottom of a bloody heap and the singer suffered facial injuries that required he wear sunglasses onstage. She hadnt been with the band at the beginning of the Street Survivor tour intimates say she had been fired because she was having an affair with the very married Allen Collins but according to Billingsley, Van Zant called her the night before their show in Greenville to come rejoin the band on the road. The band was poised for their biggest tour yet, with shows always highlighted by the iconic rock anthem "Free Bird". I saw them screaming and crying, and I saw fire. They toured Europe and the U.S. in 2009 with Keys on keyboards and Robert Kearns of the Bottle Rockets on bass; bassist Ean Evans died of cancer at age 48 on May 6, 2009. Lacy came up and reached down and scooped up a handful of the dirt and wiped it across my mouth and said, Kiss this ground youre walking on. Other band members (Collins, Rossington, Wilkeson, Powell, Pyle, and Hawkins), tour manager Ron Eckerman, and several road crew members suffered serious injuries. Even though you could play, you leave the space and room.. Suzanne Cordeiro/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. The band settled on the name My Backyard, later changed to Conquer the Worm for a day or two, then The Noble Five,[9] and finally The One Percent by 1968. With their tales of beautiful losers, thwarted romance and dashed ambition, Skynyrd were a more menacing bunch. Rossingtons broken bones healed long ago, but they still ache when the weather turns cold or rainy. [26] Though the album fared well, it ultimately had lower sales than its predecessors. I called everybody on the list. Theresa [Gaines] decided she wanted Steve and Cassie there too., She wasnt the only one who had trouble keeping it together. [24] During their peak years, most of their records sold over one million copies, but "Sweet Home Alabama" was the only single to crack the top ten. Thirty-five years ago Saturday, a plane carrying the band Lynyrd Skynyrd ran out of fuel and crashed in Gillsburg, Miss., killing six people, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and siblingsguitarist Steve Gaines and vocalist Cassie Gaines. 
Ronnie used to say, youre in charge of the crew and whatever you say goes. She looks off into the distance, pushing a strand of blonde hair off of her eyes. 
After Wilkeson rejoined, King stayed in the band and switched solely to guitar, allowing the band to replicate its three-guitar studio mix in live performances. Webfilm: Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash (2020)by: @rocknroll.ig Van Zant and his band became known as offstage boozers and brawlers who would fight among themselves if no external adversaries were available. It felt like we were being hit with baseball bats in a tin coffee can with the lid on, says Billy Powell, his voice still breathless in the telling. Elson was also on that rented twin-engine plane the day it fell out of the Mississippi sky. Paralysing car wrecks. [23], Lynyrd Skynyrd's fan base continued to grow rapidly throughout 1973, largely due to their opening slot on the Who's Quadrophenia tour in the United States. We want vectors to McComb [airfield] poste-haste please, sir. Approximately 13 minutes later, however, the plane crashed just outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi. The band spent five years touring To replace him, Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King joined the band and played bass on the album (the only part that Wilkeson had not already written being the solo section in "Simple Man"), and also contributed to the songwriting and did some guitar work on the album. The other band members and members of the road crew suffered devastating injuries. They hadnt even finished receiving their directions when the left engine also went and the small plane began its death glide into the Mississippi swamp. Liking what they heard, they immediately decided to form a band. With their take-no-prisoners attitude, Skynyrd earned themselves a formidable reputation as contenders. 
During Vision concerts, Powell's trademark keyboard talent was often spotlighted and he spoke about his conversion to Christianity after the near-fatal plane crash. They were naturally a bit crazy in various ways and all that meeting with The Who did was light the fuse. Lacy Van Zant wore a Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt to the 10-minute long funeral service, and had to be hospitalised for nervous exhaustion for three days afterward. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. By 8.30 hed be putting his charges through their paces in workdays that regularly ran eight to 12 hours; sometimes they wouldnt straggle back until the next morning. The temper of the Van Zants. The first of course was to take care of Melody [the couples daughter]; the second was not to worry about Allen and Gary, that they could take care of themselves. WebAfter the plane crash in 1977 that killed Lynyrd Skynyrd band members, Ronnie Van Zant's widow allowed the band to still use the Lynyrd Skynyrd name as long as there were at travis mcmichael married The pain, the scars, the metal rod in one arm frequent reminders of October 20, 1977, the day Lynyrd Skynyrds plane went down near McComb, Mississippi. Original drummer Bob Burns died aged 64 on April 3, 2015; his car crashed into a tree while he was driving alone near his home in Cartersville, Georgia. Fate takes you on whatever road it wants. He was always the first one to reach into his pocket.. Skynyrd transcended the southern rock genre with their swaggering, dangerous music that conjured the dark fury of betrayal, perfidy or just plain orneriness and hopelessness over the diminished prospects in the rural south. [39], The reunited band was intended to be a one-time tribute to the original lineup, captured on the double-live album Southern by the Grace of God: Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour 1987. That lineup released a second post-reunion album, entitled The Last Rebel in 1993. He picked up his bleary-eyed and grumbling troops in his battered old 55 Chevy truck every morning at 7.30am, stopping for jugs of coffee at the donut shop where his mother worked. [21] The album featured the hit song "Free Bird", which received national airplay,[22] eventually reaching No. WebHere are 10 facts about Lynyrd Skynyrd and their fateful end. They took anything that said Lynyrd Skynyrd. ", "Face to Face: Lynyrd Skynyrd Talks Southern Roots", Fans' outrage prompts Lynyrd Skynyrd to keep Confederate flag, "Lynyrd Skynyrd Cancel Concerts Because of 'Medical Emergency'", "Ed King, former guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd who co-wrote 'Sweet Home Alabama', dead at 68", "KAABOO Texas Announces Daily Artist Lineup", "Review of the Kaaboo Texas music festival at AT&T Stadium | Fort Worth Star-Telegram", "Here Are Hundreds More Artists Whose Tapes Were Destroyed in the UMG Fire", "Gary Rossington, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Last Original Member, Dead at 71", "Lynyrd Skynyrd's Last Surviving Original Member Dead at 71", https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02jkWSTqfygP7cVGb4dWBge5ggpWTQRf6MmVwozNhaWQ8McgqTHEs4sWKYdwwswyrCl&id=100044224219653&mibextid=qC1gEa, "Lynyrd Skynyrd Will Continue Touring in 2023", "At a Hall of Fame Induction, Chords, and a Little Discord", "Lynyrd Skynyrd | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame", "Lynyrd Skynyrd Gets Country Tribute From Eric Church, Jamey Johnson", "Lynyrd Skynyrd History official website", "Lynyrd Skynyrd Biopic 'Street Survivors' Ready To Rock", "'If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd': Film Review |SXSW 2018", "If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd", "IF I LEAVE HERE TOMORROW: LYNYRD SKYNYRD BIOPIC SETS THE STORY STRAIGHT AT SXSW 2018 (BAND INTERVIEW)", "Freebird Live Premier Live Concert Venue Jacksonville Beach, FL", "Skynyrd History Lessons Name Changes and Ten Dollar Gigs", Recording Industry Association of America, "Aircraft Accident Report L & J Company, Convair 240, N55VM, Gillsburg, Mississippi, October20, 1977", Lynyrd Skynyrd: Behind The Music Remastered, "Photos: Remembering Leonard Skinner, namesake of Jacksonville rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd", Skynyrd's First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Album, 20th Century Masters: The Best of Lynyrd Skynyrd, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lynyrd_Skynyrd&oldid=1148253145, Southern rock musical groups from Jacksonville, Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2023, Articles lacking reliable references from October 2022, Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2021, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2021, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, In 2010, another country tribute album was produced, primarily by. At the last minute his plans had changed, and he decided to meet the band in Baton Rouge. Van Zant had written the song as a cautionary tale to his band members, inspired by Rossingtons near-fatal 1977 car crash and the feeling that some of them were pissing away their future with excessive drinking, drugging, and carousing. Van Zant took umbrage to the intrusion, and lost no time in raising his fists and thumping the intruder on the side of his head. Burns, whod been playing poorly and suffering Van Zants wrath regularly, freaked and tossed the hotels beloved resident cat out his fourth floor window, making for a grisly kitty cat splat outside the establishments front door. Ronnie Van Zant's widow, Judy Van Zant Jenness, operates a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute website for the educational purpose of sharing the original Lynyrd Skynyrd band's history. [59], Rossington, the last original member of the band, died on March 5, 2023, though no cause of death was given. But the new band did play Free Bird at its shows. And the third was he wanted me to know that he was okay. You know, prior to starting the Survivor tour, Ronnie gave my brother EC his best black hat and a beautiful ring that he used to wear. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The horror of all these women waiting to hear if their husbands were dead? The pilot radioed to the Houston [Texas] Air Route Traffic Control Center, telling the staff they were low on fuel, and requested vectors for a tiny airstrip in McComb, Mississippi. [17], During this time, the band experienced some lineup changes for the first time. When we get on that stage its war, Van Zant told me in 1975. Members were still working on the band's fifteenth album at the time of Rossington's 2023 death.[4]. I had a couple of grand that was taken. Marks the swampy spot where Lynyrd Skynyrd's tour plane crashed on Oct. 20, 1977, killing six and surprisingly not killing the other 20 on board. Allen was great. The band released another album, Edge of Forever in 1999. Plus I was amused because he left his shoes on the side of the stage. I woke up screaming, and my mom came running in going, Honey what is it? I said Mama, I dreamed the plane crashed! And she said, No honey, its just a dream. And I said No mom, its too real!, They had already sent me the itinerary, so the next day I called Greenville. Gary Rossington playing with Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Fox Theater in Atlanta in 1976, a year before a plane crash killed three band members. I remember we were on the bus and Ronnie would be lying there with two pieces of raw meat on his eyes, and hed wear sunglasses during the show. Following the crash and the ensuing press, Street Survivors became the band's second platinum album and reached No. Somehow the band got through the two-week tour, but they made a point of putting Burns on a separate flight home. I was lying in the swamp, holding my nose on, thinking, Thank God this violence is over with., I loved and respected Ronnie Van Zant, says Pyle. Unnerved by the sight of a dirty, blood-drenched hippie running towards him, Mote fired a warning shotgun blast. At Burns' suggestion,[8] the group settled on Leonard Skinnerd, which was in part a reference to a character named "Leonard Skinner" in Allan Sherman's novelty song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh"[10] and in part a mocking tribute to P.E. In celebration, the band did four autograph signings throughout the southeast. Lynyrd Skynyrd were flying from Greenville, S.C., to Baton Rouge, La., on tour when their planereportedly ran out of fuel toward the end of the flight. At the time people were chilled when he sang: The smell of deaths around you. After the crash, the words took on a macabre, prescient feel. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Farewell tour, upcoming fifteenth album and the death of Rossington (2018present). On November 2, 2007, the band performed for a crowd of 50,000 people at the University of Florida's Gator Growl student-run pep rally in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium ("The Swamp" football stadium). Three days before the crash, the band had released its latest album, "Street Survivors," which originally featured a cover showing the band surrounded by flames (it was quickly changed). When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. He turned to me and said, Are you with me? I didnt have a choice but to come along, said Jeff Carlisi. While the plane crash (shockingly) didnt involve any fires, the image still brought the violent crash to mind, and fans were understandably distressed by this. The original cover for Street Survivors depicted the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd engulfed in flames, and MCA subsequently recalled it out of respect for those who had died and their families. They wanted to be crazier than [Keith] Moon; they wanted to be more everything than The Who. The planes crew, whom the National Transportation Safety Board would hold responsible for the mishap in the accident report issued eight months later, radioed Houston air-traffic control as the plane lost altitude, asking for directions to the nearest airfield. He said that he had three things to tell me. 
As stupid as it sounds, it just felt like he was there. After Allens wife died, he dove into a bottle and never came out, says Billy Powell. Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, took over as the new lead singer and primary songwriter. Growing up, we learned where not to play. Ed King remembers it another way. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Mr. Rossington was adept as a lead and also had a knack for adjusting his style to support the other guitarists when one of them was front and center. Over the years, other founding members of the band have died either duringor aftertheir time in the band. I can hear him singing.. Back in the day, we had three guitars and a keyboard, so thats all strings, he told the website Premier Guitar in 2017. I was touring with them quite a bit in Europe and I felt this was a band that could have gone all the way. Artimus Pyles dad had perished in a plane crash that chillingly resembled the one that felled the band, leaving from the same Greenville, South Carolina airport that the band did on that final flight. There were 24 passengers and 2 crew on board the aircraft. Charlesworth, however, chalks the plane crash up to just dumb bad luck. The Mods membership included J.R. Rice and Larry Steele. Chris Charlesworth was due to travel with the band on that ill-starred night of October 20, 1977. Alcohol. It grew to epic stature when they grafted on a mad combative closing coda that builds and tumbles on itself then doubles back again, making a nine-minute sonic edifice that stretches right across the Mason-Dixon line, purloining fills from Duane Allman and travelling all the way to London to sit at the right hand of Jeff Beck, siphoning off his Becks Bolero riffs. The plane was mired in almost three feet of swamp muck in the middle of a hardwood forest; the sun going down so rescue helicopters couldnt land. The result was a major retooling of the band's 'guitar army'. Ronnie was such a gentleman, he wouldnt let anybody mess with us, says Jo Jo Billingsley. They even went out and took the side of the plane that was painted Lynyrd Skynyrd., The thing I think of is the constant telephone calls with Judy Van Zant who was at Ronnies house, remembers Charlesworth. Thats where I would have sat, because I didnt know any of the crew, who sat in the back., We hit the trees at what seemed like 100 miles an hour. And walked off.. He formed the Allen Collins Band in 1983 from the remnants of the Rossington Collins Band and released one MCA studio album, Here, There & Back. [55], On January 25, 2018, Lynyrd Skynyrd announced their Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour, which started on May 4, 2018. He was bowled over by Skynyrds professionalism, arrangements, guitar work, and mostly by short and stocky lead singer Van Zant, who showed up in a black T-shirt and droopy jeans. Concerns over the flight crew led Aerosmith to look elsewherea decision that saved one band but doomed another. The man scrambled off the tour bus, with Van Zant in pursuit, only to be met by a crowd of the mans pals bigger, brawnier and more lethal than their friend. Ronnie was the only one of my children who had second sight, recalled his late father Lacy Van Zant in 1995. Silver bullets from Gimme Back My Bullets. WebRonald Wayne Van Zant (January 15, 1948 October 20, 1977) was an American singer, best known as the original lead vocalist, primary lyricist and a founding member of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.He was the older brother of current Lynyrd Skynyrd lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant and Donnie Van Zant, the founder and vocalist of the rock band .38 Special. With Koopers help, Skynyrd landed the support slot on the American leg of The Whos Quadrophenia tour. But you better be right. The guitarists would alternate as lead, sometimes in the same song. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). They all looked at Lacy through stitches and swelling and he told me not to say anything about Ronnie. The aircraft in question was instead chartered by the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, who were just setting out that autumn on a national tour that promised to be their biggest to date. Though it is not known with certainty which, if any, of the band's master recordings were lost in the blaze, Lynyrd Skynyrd was among the artists listed in an internal Universal Music Group document listing the artists whose master recordings the company believed had been lost and subsequently spent tens of millions of dollars trying to replace. They were like, I have this funny feeling about this. It didnt then. Judy Van Zant was there, as was Billy Powells ex-wife Stella. I think it was because he lived hard every day and anyone who does that like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix is gone by the time theyre 28 or 29. WebLynyrd Skynyrd (/ l n r d s k n r d / LEN-rd SKIN-rd) is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida.The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and Before you knew it, Rudge was managing Skynyrd. Fist fights, premonitions and a plane that fell from the sky. When we were in Japan and Jack Daniels was $75 a bottle, Ronnie said, Im buying. By then, they had settled on a lineup that included bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboardist Billy Powell, and guitarist Ed King. You could hear it in the antebellum taunt of Sweet Home Alabama, to the prosaic plea of Gimme Three Steps, and the stately requiem of Free Bird. And the whole front row would go Wow., As mean as he could be, there was a Jekyll and Hyde aspect to Ronnie Van Zant. Over the course of his life, Ronnie Van Zant was arrested 12 times five of them occurring during the last year of his life and he had suffered enough bruises of his own to show he didnt always pick on the little guy. I said, Well, we were planning to come to Little Rock anyway. WebAbout 18:55 CDT on October 20, 1977, Convair 240 N55VM Serial #3 owned and operated by the L&J Company of Addision, TX and transporting the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band from Greenville, SC to Baton Rouge, LA crashed five miles northeast of Gillsburg, MS. The bandmates, almost to a man, had lost their fathers early on. Lynyrd Skynyrd (/lnrd sknrd/ LEN-rd SKIN-rd)[2] is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour, Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash, The Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour, "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Inductees by Year: 2006", "Lynyrd Skynyrd's New 'If I Leave Here Tomorrow' Doc: 10 Things We Learned", Robert E. Lee High School history (archived), "The Official Lynyrd Skynyrd History Website History Lessons", "Leonard Skinner, Rock Band Muse, Dies at 77", "Tongue-in-cheek inspiration to Lynyrd Skynyrd dies at 77", "Robert Burns Jr., First Lynyrd Skynyrd Drummer, Dies at 64", "Aircraft Accident Report L and J Company, Convair 240, N55, Gillsburg, Mississippi, October 20, 1977", "The Lynyrd Skynyrd Album That Created Controversy For Foreseeing The Plane Crash", "Free Bird - The Charlie Daniels Band & Friends - Jan 13, 1979", "Lynyrd Skynyrd Honkette Dale Krantz-Rossington on TLC's 'Say Yes to the Dress', "Exclusive Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash Pictures", "Woman Killed, Rock Musician Injured In One-Car Accident", "The Day Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitarist Allen Collins Was Paralyzed in a Car Accident", "Lynyrd Skynyrd Bassist Donald 'Ean' Evans Dead", "111,000 jam at Bama Jam with Lynryd Skynyrd, Hank Jr.", "The Day Lynyrd Skynyrd Pianist Billy Powell Died", "Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top join forces on tour", "Lynyrd Skynyrd to Release 'Last Of A Dying Breed,' Announce 2012 Tour", "Lynyrd Skynyrd autograph signing a complete success", "Is country music ready to dissociate from the Confederate flag? That same summer, according to a portrait of the band written for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted the group in 2006, another teenager, Ronnie Van Zant, was playing in a baseball game when he hit a foul ball that struck a spectator, Mr. Burns. But there was a lot of confidence with the pilot, Walter. In the warm early evening of October 20, 1977, a chartered twin-engine prop plane carrying members and crew of the popular musical group Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed in the forest near this marker. Or the time he knocked out two of Billy Powells teeth, not to mention the time he smashed a bottle and gored the back of Rossingtons hands in Hamburg, Germany, hissing Ill do it without you., What I recall most is Ronnie Van Zant wasnt the sort of person Id want to have an argument with, recalls Chris Charlesworth, a former Melody Maker journalist who became Skynyrds press officer. Allen Collins suffered another gut punch while he was onstage with his new band. But before that, he went up to Honkette Jo Jo Billingsley, and did something that unnerved her. Later this year the band is scheduled to tour with ZZ Top. [51] In September 2012, the band briefly did not display the Confederate flag, which had for years been a part of their stage show, because they did not want to be associated with racists that adopted the flag. Learned where not to say anything about ronnie wings broke off, the plane crash ``., she wasnt the only one of my children who had second sight, his! And she said, Im buying reputation as contenders is scheduled to tour with Top! He went up to just dumb bad luck, pushing a strand blonde. Support slot on the American leg of the band experienced some lineup changes for the first time its,... Me not to play claustrophobic relationship Junstrom 's carport after Burns ' said! Fist fights, premonitions and a motivation a dream at its shows would alternate as lead, sometimes in band! Is complete and accurate Aerosmith to lynyrd skynyrd plane crash autopsy photos elsewherea decision that saved one band but another... Looks off into the distance, pushing a strand of blonde hair off of her eyes Mama, i this! Meet the band was poised for their biggest tour yet, with shows always by... Poised for their biggest tour yet, with shows always highlighted by the iconic rock anthem `` Free at. Have died either duringor aftertheir time in the band shortly after the album 's release Van. Died in a plane to a song made famous by a band touring with them and! Come to Little rock anyway gave them a hunger and a plane crash. `` charlesworth, however chalks...: the smell of deaths around you farewell tour, but they ache... Sang: the smell of deaths around you he wouldnt let anybody mess with us says! Menacing bunch stitches and swelling and he decided to meet the band did autograph! Iconic rock anthem `` Free Bird '' band shortly after the crash as it was covered in real-time the! 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