Died On This Date (August 22, 2018) Ed King / Lynyrd Skynyrd, Strawberry Alarm Clock
themusicsover Ed King
September 14, 1949 – August 22, 2018
Ed King, a founding member of Strawberry Alarm Clock and two-time guitarist and bassist for Lynyrd Skynyrd passed away on August 22, 2018. While his cause of death was not immediately released, Rolling Stone has pointed out that King was suffering from lung cancer prior to his passing. He was 68. Born in Glendale, California, King helped form Strawberry Alarm Clock (then The Sixpence) in 1967. A psychedelic rock band, they scored a #1 hit with “Incense and Peppermints” that same year. In all, the band produced five charting singles during their run. In early 1968, an early version of Lynyrd Skynyrd opened a few shows for Strawberry Alarm Clock, and four years later, King was invited to join them on bass. He eventually moved over to guitar as the band was developing their soon-to-be famous three-lead-guitar style. Besides adding his guitar skills, King co-wrote some of the band’s most famous songs, including “Working For The MCA,” “Saturday Night Special,” and “Sweet Home Alabama.” He left the band in 1975 – two years before the infamous plane crash that took the lives of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and road manager, Dean Kilpatrick, which sent the band on an indefinite hiatus. When Skynyrd reformed in 1987, King came back to the group to a much larger role, only to be forced to leave again due to heart issues in 1996.
What You Should Own
JoJo Billingsley was a songwriter and vocalist who is perhaps best remembered as a member of the “Honkettes,” the so-nicknamed back-up singers for Lynyrd Skynyrd for nearly four years. Billingsley joined the group in 1975, touring the world during their peak years. That all came to a tragic end on October 20, 1977 when she was the only member of the band not killed in a plane crash that took the lives of 
Ronnie Van Zant was the singer and main songwriter for southern rock powerhouse, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the band he formed in 1964 with fellow high school classmates. The band slugged it out on the road in and around the southeast region of the U.S. until they got their break by getting signed to MCA Records in 1972. The following year, they released their debut album, pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd, which included such future hits and Southern rock staples as “Gimme Three Steps,” “Tuesday’s Gone,” and of course, “Free Bird.” The hits continued to roll in and the band soon found them self touring with such bands as the Who and the Rolling Stones. By late 1977, the band was as popular as any in America, had just completed their Street Survivors album, and were in the middle of what was to be their biggest tour yet. But then one of popular music’s worst tragedies struck. On October 20, 1977, while flying between shows in Greenville, South Carolina and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, their small chartered plane experienced engine trouble causing it to crash outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi. Dead on impact were band members, Ronnie Van Zant (29), 