Q 01/05

What job did Leonard Skinner, the man Lynyrd Skynyrd is named after, hold at the founders' Florida high school?

A) Principal

B) Gym teacher

C) Band director

D) Math teacher

Answer · why

B) Gym teacher

Gym teacher Leonard Skinner later befriended some of the band, and The New York Times called him arguably the most influential high school gym teacher...

Q 02/05

Which Canadian singer is called out by name in Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama, a reply to his song Southern Man?

A) Neil Young

B) Gordon Lightfoot

C) Leonard Cohen

D) Bruce Cockburn

Answer · why

A) Neil Young

Neil Young took the jab well: he later admitted his own lyrics had deserved it, and he reportedly wrote the song Powderfinger for Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Q 03/05

What caused the chartered plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd to crash in a forest on October 20, 1977?

A) A wing iced over

B) It hit power lines

C) It ran out of fuel

D) Lightning struck it

Answer · why

C) It ran out of fuel

It ran out of fuel near the end of a flight to Baton Rouge, and investigators put the crash down to the crew's inattention to the fuel supply.

Q 04/05

What relation is Johnny Van Zant, who became Lynyrd Skynyrd's lead singer in 1987, to original frontman Ronnie Van Zant?

A) Nephew

B) Cousin

C) Stepson

D) Brother

Answer · why

D) Brother

Brother Johnny took over ten years after the crash, though on that reunion tour Free Bird was played as an instrumental, with no singer at all.

Q 05/05

Which country star's 2023 cover of Free Bird features Ronnie Van Zant's original vocal and members of Lynyrd Skynyrd?

A) Reba McEntire

B) Miranda Lambert

C) Dolly Parton

D) Shania Twain

Answer · why

C) Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton cut it for her rock album Rockstar; by her account, Ronnie Van Zant's widow had refused the band itself the use of his voice but agreed f...