Billy Powell

Born in Corpus Christi Texas Powell grew up in a military family his father was in the US Navy and spent several years of his childhood living in Italy where his father was stationed After his father died of cancer in 1960 he moved with his family back to the United States and settled in Jacksonville Florida He met his lifelong friend Leon Wilkeson in elementary school Billys interest in piano began to grow and he began taking piano lessons from a local teacher named Madalyn Brown She swore he did not need her claiming that Billy was a natural and picked things up well on his own When it was time for high school his mother enrolled Billy and his brother Ricky at Sanford Naval Academy in Sanford FL Billy returned to Jacksonville where he enrolled at Bishop Kenny High School When he graduated in 1970 he enrolled briefly in a community college majoring in Music Theory Around this time he found work as a roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd Billy remained a member of the Skynyrd crew for two years which included amongst the grittier shows highlights such as Skynyrd landing a support slot for Leslie Wests Mountain In his second year with them 1972 Skynyrd played one particular gig a show at the Bolles school prom After his usual routine working with Kevin Elson Billy had time to rest for a short while In the corner he spotted a piano so Billy went over and sat down with it Just fooling around Billy launches into his piano based version of Freebird for the boys in the band to listen to Ronnie astonished at his roadies hitherto secret ability said You mean to tell me youve been playing the piano like that and youve been workin for us for a year Billy replied Well you know Ive been classically trained most of my life He was then told Skynyrd were looking for a keyboard man and Billy was in In 1973 Lynyrd Skynyrd was signed to MCA Records and received national exposure with the release of their first albumpronounced lĕhnérd skinnérd The bands popularity soared in 1974 with their followup album Second Helping which featured their highestcharting single Sweet Home Alabama The band enjoyed great popularity over the next three years culminating in the 1977 release of Street Survivors which many considered to be their strongest effort to date However three days after the release of Street Survivors Skynyrds chartered plane crashed into a forest near McComb Mississippi The crash took the lives of singer Ronnie Van Zant guitarist Steve Gaines his sister and backing vocalistCassie Gaines assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick and both pilots The remainder of the band suffered injuries ranging from mild to severe Powell suffered severe facial lacerations almost completely losing his nose but was otherwise relatively uninjured He was the first to be released from the hospital and the only member able to attend the funerals of his fallen bandmates Powell rejoined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1987 for a tribute tour and remained with the band until his death Guitarist Gary Rossington is the only member from the classic lineup who continues to record and perform with the band today On January 28 2009 the keyboardist died from an apparent heart attack at the age of 56 at his home in Orange Park Florida