Ronnie Van Zant

A character in the supernatural thriller called The Coffin (2010) was named after him, in his honor. One of the writers is a big Lynyrd Skynyrd fan.

One of his biggest sources of support was his father Lacy Van Zant. The elder Van Zant died on August 3, 2004 in Jacksonville, Florida of pulmonary problems. He was 89 years old.

Was the subject of the 2001 Southern Rock Opera album by The Drive-by Truckers.

On June 29 2000, his grave was vandalized, this prompted his family to move his remains to an unknown location.

Had a closed casket funeral. Many thought this to be because he was horribly disfigured or even decapitated during the 1977 plane crash. That is not true. Ronnie had a bruise about the size of a quarter on his temple (which was the cause of death - blunt head trauma). His wife, Judy, remembered that Ronnie once said he did not wish to have people "gawking" at his body, so she made it a closed casket funeral.

The song "Free Bird" was written as a simple love song, but later came to be dedicated in concert to guitarist Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band, who died in a motorcycle crash October 1971.

Ronnie Van Zant was born on January 15, 1948 in Jacksonville, Florida. He was the oldest son of six children (3 sisters and 2 brothers - musicians Donnie and Johnny). Ronnie attended Lee High School in Jacksonville with fellow band members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins. They soon formed what would become Lynyrd Skynyrd.