Released on This Day in 1997, the Lynyrd Skynyrd Album That Honored the Band’s Journey “Through Hell and Back”

Formed in 1964, the band that would become Lynyrd Skynyrd underwent multiple lineup changes before settling on vocalist Ronnie Van Zant; bassist Leon Wilkeson; guitarists Allen Collins, Steve Gaines, and Gary Rossington; drummer Artimus Pyle; and keyboardist Billy Powell. With hit songs like “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama”, the Jacksonville, Florida outfit brought Southern rock into the national spotlight. Sadly, an October 1977 plane crash would claim the lives of six people: Van Zant, Steve Gaines, backup vocalist Cassie Gaines (Steve’s sister), road manager Dean Kilpatrick, and two pilots, Walter McCreary and William Gray.

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Occurring just three days after the release of the band’s fifth studio album, Street Survivors, the tragedy spelled the end of Lynyrd Skynyrd for a decade, until the band’s remaining members reunited for one last tour in 1987. One final tour led to several more albums and lineup changes. On this day (April 29) in 1997, the band released Twenty, named for the amount of time that had passed since that fateful crash.

Johnny Van Zant Got One Last Duet With His Brother

For the 1987 reunion tour, Lynyrd Skynyrd brought aboard Johnny Van Zant, 12 years younger than his elder brother, Ronnie.

He has continued performing with the band ever since—and thanks to modern technology, fans got to hear him join forces with Ronnie on the Twenty track “Travelin’ Man”, first heard on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 1976 live album One More For the Road.

What ’20’ Meant for Lynyrd Skynyrd

Recorded at the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama, Twenty peaked at No. 97 on the Billboard 200. But its significance to the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd went far beyond any chart data.

In April 2025, a post on the band’s official Facebook account commemorated the album’s 27th anniversary.

[RELATED: This Lynyrd Skynyrd Debut Track Seemed to Eerily Foreshadow a Tragic Plane Crash Four Years Before It Happened]

“That record wasn’t just a milestone—it was a statement,” it read. “We’d been through hell and back, but the music was still in our bones. Still is. We made Twenty to honor the past and prove we weren’t done.”

And they weren’t. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s most recent release, Last of a Dying Breed, came in 2012, but the band is hitting the road this summer for a North American tour with Foreigner.

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