If you are a devoted and above-average music fan, you surely remember the first concert that made you truly fall in love with the craft. This experience is not only memorable, it is also monumental. Monumental because it seemingly makes the greyness of the world clear as crystal. For many, their first Earth-shattering concert is a sign. For the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie Van Zant, his sign occurred when he saw The Rolling Stones on their first American tour.
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Prior to wanting to become a rock and roll artist, Ronnie Van Zant always wanted to be an athlete. However, like many people in the 60s, Van Zant was completely taken aback by the melodic and taboo power of The Rolling Stones. That being said, after Van Zant saw The Rolling Stones at the Jacksonville Coliseum in 1965, the rest of his life flashed before his eyes, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do: Become the pioneer of Southern rock, and consequently, become one of the greatest rock frontmen of all time.
How The Rolling Stones Turned Ronnie Van Zant to Music
Former Lynyrd Skynyrd security manager Gene Odom was one of Ronnie Van Zant’s oldest friends. Hence, he was able to attest to the immense impact the Stones had on Van Zant as a 17-year-old kid.
“Mick Jagger and The Stones is what inspired him,” he recalled in an interview with AXS TV. “He liked country music, Mick Jagger, and The Rolling Stones is what put the shuffle in his feet and what put him into wanting to be in the music business.”
“He’d seen the reaction of the fans and the people, especially the girls, and the girls loved the singer,” Odom added. “They don’t care much about the band, but they love that front man, and so Ronnie loved it, and he had that reaction because, truthfully speaking, he wanted to get out of Shannytown.”
Ronnie Van Zant had a goal, and he quickly accomplished that goal, as he joined a rock and roll band shortly after seeing The Rolling Stones perform on May 8, 1965 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Rolling Stones had a profound impact on the world, and they were and still are seemingly aware of that fact. However, what they never could have predicted was the rise of Lynyrd Skynyrd and southern rock, and their place within it.
Photo by Mark Sullivan/Getty Images
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