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The remainder of the band suffered mild to severe injuries.

The crash took the lives of singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, and both pilots. Three days after the release of Street Survivors, Skynyrd's chartered Convair CV-240 crashed into a forest near McComb, Mississippi. The band enjoyed increasing popularity over the next three years, culminating in the 1977 release of Street Survivors. The band's popularity soared in 1974 with their follow-up album, Second Helping, which featured their highest-charting single, " Sweet Home Alabama". In 1973, Lynyrd Skynyrd was signed to MCA Records and received national exposure following the release of their first album, (pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd). When the band realized their roadie's ability, he was offered the position of keyboardist. During a break at that event, Powell sat down at a piano and played a song. In 1972, Skynyrd played a show at the Bolles School prom. After graduation in 1970, he enrolled at and briefly attended a community college, majoring in music theory.Īround 1970, Powell found work as a roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd and remained a member of the crew for two years, during which the band secured a support role for the band Mountain.

Powell returned to Jacksonville, where he enrolled at Bishop Kenny High School. When it was time for high school, his mother enrolled Billy and his brother Ricky at Sanford Naval Academy in Sanford, Florida. Powell took an interest in piano and he began taking piano lessons from a local teacher named Madalyn Brown, who claimed that Billy did not need a teacher as he was a natural and picked things up well on his own. In elementary school, Powell met Leon Wilkeson, who became a lifelong friend and the bassist for Lynyrd Skynyrd. After his father died of cancer in 1960, the Powells returned to the United States to settle in Jacksonville, Florida. He grew up in a military family and spent several of his childhood years in Italy, where his father was stationed with the U.S. Powell was born in Corpus Christi, Texas.

William Norris Powell (J– January 28, 2009) was an American musician and keyboardist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 until his death in 2009.