On this day, October the 20th, in the year of 1977, the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, known for songs such as “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird”, were involved in a plane crash which killed vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and vocalist Cassie Gaines alongside three others (an assistant road manager and the two pilots).

While on what was meant to be their biggest tour, the band was on a chartered plane from Greenville, South Carolina to the capital of Louisiana, Baton Rouge. On this chartered flight, the plane began to be low on fuel.

In an attempt to conduct an emergency landing, the plane crashed into a heavily forested area in Southeastern Mississippi. Alongside the deaths, the other passengers faced injuries from broken limbs to internal damage.

Twenty other passengers survived the crash (History).

Fans were shocked at the news of this event and wouldn’t see “Lynyrd Skynyrd” play again until a decade’s worth of time had passed in the year 1987 (Lynyrd Skynyrd).