Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird Is More Than Just a Long Song

Lynyrd Skynyrd had been playing it for about five decades; it’s a popular concert closer for the band. But Free Bird was written by founding members Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins back in 1970 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Rickey Medlocke and Gary Rossington / Ronnie Van Zant / Lynyrd Skynyrd / Lynyrd Skynyrd

Source: Getty Images

After Van Zant died in the famed plane crash of ’77, the song took on a whole new meaning – not just for the fans, but for the band’s surviving members. So, how did Van Zant’s younger brother come to sing his late big bro’s words? To understand how the song come to be and evolved into a fan favorite with concert goers traditionally yelling “Play Free Bird!” you should know the whole story.