This Day in Music History (10/20): Southern Rock Tragedy

On this day in 1977, just three days after the release of Street Survivors, a Convair CV-240 chartered by the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd ran out of fuel and crashed in Gillsburg, Mississippi, near the end of its flight from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray all died as a result of the crash. Twenty others survived.

This Day in Music History (10/17): Lynyrd Skynyrd/Street Survivors

Street Survivors is the fifth studio album by Southern rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on this day in 1977. It is the last Skynyrd album recorded by original members Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins, and is the sole Skynyrd studio recording by guitarist Steve Gaines. Three days after the album's release, the band's chartered airplane crashed en route to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, killing the pilot, co-pilot, the group's assistant road-manager and three band members (Van Zant, Gaines, and Gaines' older sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines), and severely injuring most who survived the crash.