The name "Lynyrd Skynyrd" was a tongue-in-cheek reference to Leonard Skinner , a high school gym teacher known for strictly enforcing rules against long hair.

While associated with Southern rock, the band was heavily influenced by British Invasion acts like The Rolling Stones , Free , and Eric Clapton , as well as blues artists like Slim Harpo. The 1977 Plane Crash

The most defining moment in the band's history was the catastrophic crash of their chartered Convair CV-300 on .

Teenagers Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns, and Gary Rossington formed the band after meeting at a baseball game in Jacksonville.

Lynyrd Skynyrd, commonly referred to as "Skynyrd," is widely considered the . Formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the group rose to massive international fame in the 1970s before a tragic plane crash in 1977 halted their momentum at the peak of their career. Origin and Early Development