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1-15-1948 Ronnie Van Zant born

 

Ronald Wayne Van Zant was born on this day in Jacksonville, Florida in 1948. He and other classmates formed the band that would become Lynyrd Skynyrd when Ronnie was 16. Van Zant and other long-term members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins eventually chose to name the group after a gym teacher who ragged on students with long hair, Leonard Skinner.
Another musician with Van in his birth name was born on 1/15 - Don Van Vliet. Better known as Captain Beefheart, he was a regular musical cohort of Frank Zappa. Martha Davis of the Motels was born on 1/15 in 1951.
The Rolling Stones appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on this night in 1967, an appearance that almost was cancelled until Mick Jagger agreed to change "night" to "time" when the band did Let's Spend The Night Together.
Scorpions released Love Drive on this date in 1979. Jimi Hendrix was inducted into the rock Hall of Fame by Neil Young on this day in 1992. Harry Nilsson died of a heart attack in 1994.