Sad News - Billy Powell Dead At 56

The music world lost one of its great under-appreciated players today with the death from an apparent heart attack of Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist Billy Powell at an all too young age of 56.

Known as a guitar band, the Skynyrd sound was equally shaped by the rollicking Mississippi Delta flavoring of Powell's piano work. The opening to Freebird, one of the iconic intros in all of music history was penned by Powell while he was still a roadie for the band.

Two images of Powell are forever burned into my memory. No one can forget the interview Powell did in 1977 after surviving the Skynyrd plane crash in Mississippi, with his bandaged nearly-severed nose and black eyes as he grieved for his friends. But I'll choose to remember a twenty-two-year-old Powell flipping the photographer the bird on the cover of Nuthin' Fancy, Skynyrd's 1974 release. The irony of a roadie becoming a rockstar overnight and then telling the world what he thought gave great hope to young, struggling, cynical musicians everywhere.

Thanks Billy, for the music and for sharing yourself. Time passes quickly, don't let it slip through your hands.