Leon Wilkeson
Wilkeson was known as the “Mad Hatter of Southern Rock” due to his fondness of wearing hats of all shapes and sizes onstage. Because of the crash, Wilkeson suffered a catastrophic arm injury, so much so that he had to reconfigure his bass and play it in a unique, almost upright style. He also broke his leg and experienced a chest wound. His heart failed twice at the scene, and his teeth were knocked out.
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Wilkeson stayed close to his Skynyrd brothers and joined them for the tribute tour in 1987 and onward. But like Collins, bad luck followed him, too. On the road in the ’90s, while he was sleeping, Wilkeson had his throat slit on a tour bus. Guitarist Ed King blamed Wilkeson’s wife, but she claimed it was King himself who did it, according to an article published by Spin. The jury is still out on who did it.
Wilkeson didn’t die from that incident, however. He was found dead in a hotel room on July 27, 2001, at the age of 49. He had a liver and lung disease, but his death was chalked up to “natural causes.”