Before becoming a key member of one of Southern Rock's legendary bands, Billy Powell was one of the group's roadies. His talent as a keyboard player was unknown to Ronnie Van Zant until Powell was overheard playing Free Bird on a piano backstage before a Skynyrd concert in 1972. As Powell related it, the lead singer walked up to him and said, 'You mean to tell me that you've been playing the piano like that and been workin' for us for a year?!, and then proclaimed, 'We need a piano player!'
Powell became that player on the spot and his style complimented and countered the high octane, guitar driven songs of Skynyrd for the next 37 years. His life ended suddenly on this morning in 2009 when a heart attack struck him down in his condo in Orange Park, near the group's home base of Jacksonville, Florida.
Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events that took place on January 28 include...
1943 Pretty Things founding guitarist Dick Taylor is born in Dartford, UK.
1959 The Alarm co-founding guitarist Dave Sharp is born in Lancashire, UK.
The Cavern Club in Liverpool closes due to heavy debts
1968 Rowdy conduct by members of the Who and Faces causes unscheduled landing in Australia so extra security can come aboard.
1968 Jim Morrison of the Doors gets arrested for drunkenness and harassing a security guard at a Las Vegas adult movie theater.
1984 Tommy Lee arrested during altercation with a Motley Crue fan who taunted Lee about his girlfriend being in the current issue of Penthouse.
1985 We Are The World recorded. The benefit song included Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Steve Perry, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Lindsey Buckingham, Bob Geldof, Paul Simon and many others.
1988 Pink Floyd floats a giant air filled bed down the Thames River to promote A Momentary Lapse of Reason, the album that featured a beach jammed with metal framed beds on its cover.
1993 Don Henley gets sued by Geffen Records for failing to deliver albums on time.
1998 Mick Jagger does commentary during online presentation of England vs West Indies cricket match.
2005 Traffic’s Jim Capaldi dies of stomach cancer at 60.
2014 Gregg Allman announces the Allman Brothers Band will stop touring by the end of the year.
2015 Sly Stone awarded $5 million in unpaid royalties from past managers.
2015 Geezer Butler arrested on assault and other charges in a bar in Death Valley National Park.
2016 Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Airplane/Starship dies of septic shock following a heart attack.
2016 Original Jefferson Airplane lead singer Signe Anderson dies of COPD.
2017 Black Sabbath guitarist and keyboard player Geoff Nichols dies of lung cancer.
2022 Jethro Tull releases The Zealot Gene...
