Ronnie VanZant
Ronnie VanZant was born in January 15, 1948, in Jacksonville, Florida.  Ronnie lived in a part of town with a dirt track at the end of the street.  Every Saturday they would go and watch the races from the outside because they couldn't afford the ticket price to get in.  As a kid Ronnie loved the Rolling Stones.  He could sing every word to the Rolling Stones songs.  The first band he was in was called Us.  he went to their practice and told them he was there new lead singer.
Allen Collins
Allen Collins was born July 19, 1952.  He got his first guitar at the age of twelve after a friend down the street showed him three chords.  He asked his mom for a guitar and she bought him a ninety-nine Truestone hollow body with three pickups that came with an eight inch amp.  Allen was quick to learn and stunned most people that saw him play.
Gary Rossington
Gary Rossington was born December 4, 1951.  He loved baseball and wanted to play for the New York Yankees.  After he saw the Stones play on TV he thought about a career in music.  So he and his friend Bob Burns decided to form a band.  Gary's sister Carol was dating a local musician named Lloyd Phillips who gave him guitar lessons.

Artimus Pyle
Artimus Pyle was born July 15, 1948. As a child Artimus recalls being fascinated by rhythm and sound.  He was constantly tapping his feet and his hands.  His mom bought him a set of bongos at the age of nine.  When he was twelve his dad bought him a set of real drums.

Steve Gaines
Steve Gaines was born on September 14,1949.  As a child Steve liked English rock bands and American Blues.  When Steve was a kid he went to see the Beatles and he fell in love with the guitar.  He talked his dad into buying him his first guitar at age fourteen.  He never put it down.  One of the first band Steve was in was the Ravens a local band in Miami, Oklahoma.  It was Steve's sister Cassie who got him to play with Lynyrd Skynyrd.  She was traveling with them as a back up singer and got Allen Collins to agree to let him play.

Leon Wilkeson

Leon Wilkeson was born on April 5, 1952.  He was a major Beatles fan in his teenage years.  He began playing bass around the same time.  He was in his first band with Ronnie VanZant called the Collegiates.  He quite to focus on school.  He then dropped out of school to work on bass.  Then Ronnie found himself without a bass player and he let Leon join the band.  When Leon died in 2001 Johnny VanZant who took over for his brother later wrote a tribute song to Leon Wilkeson called Mad Hatter.

Billy Powel

 
Billy Powel was born on June 3,1952.  When he moved to Jacksonville from Texas he started to develop a taste for music.  Billy started taking piano lessons but not for long because he could play anything he heard once.  Billy played as a roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd and when he was setting up he saw a piano and started playing a begging he wrote for Freebird.  Ronnie heard him and said," you mean to tell me you've been working for us for years and you can play like that."  Then Ronnie told him that he would be there new piano player.
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