Billy Powell, Original Lynyrd Skynyrd Keyboardist Passes at 56

Lynyrd Skynyrd. Billy Powell was found dead in his Orange Park condo earlier this morning. Powell was able to call 911 to report having trouble breathing, but was unable to be resuscitated by rescue crews after their arrival. Billy Powell was pronounced dead at 1:52 a.m. on 28 January 2009. The Orange Park Police Chief , James Boivin passed to the media that the artist was scheduled for an appointment with his heart specialist on Monday but was unable to make the Appointment.

Lynyrd Skynyrd and Billy Powell

When Billy Powell was attending Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville he met Leon Wilkeson who would become the bassist for Lynyrd Skynyrd. After High School, Powell worked for two years as a roadie for the band until 1972 when lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant invited him to join Lynyrd Skynyrd as the keyboard player. From 1973 to 1977 the band received a huge amount of national exposure popularity over the releases of their first two albums. In 1977, they released Street Survivors which is considered to be one of the strongest albums of the band. Just three days after the release of the album, the bands charter airplane crashed killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines along with Gaine's sister and backup vocalist Cassie Gaines. Billy Powell suffered a number of face lacerations in the crash, but was the only surviving member well-enough to attend the funerals of the fallen band mates. Powell would play in a number of groups and projects in the succeeding 10 years until the Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute tour and subsequent reformation in 1987.