10 Artists Who Never Managed To Top Their First Album
5. Lynyrd Skynyrd
When Jacksonville, Florida's favourite sons rolled onto the scene in 1973, a new genre of music was created. Lynyrd Skynyrd, named in "honour" of a P.E. teacher at their high school who was strict on boys with long hair, gave birth to what would come to be known as southern rock. (Pronounced 'lh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd) was their helpfully-named introduction to the world, establishing them as a band to be reckoned with. For a group with a multitude of hits in addition to a handful of iconic tunes, four of them can be found on this record alone. Gimme Three Steps; a catchy up-tempo jam, and the three ballads; Simple Man, Tuesday's Gone and the historic Free Bird can all be found here. Their other timeless classic Sweet Home Alabama was on the next record Second Helping. Sadly many members of the band, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant perished in a plane crash in 1977. Ten years later, Ronnie's brother Johnny joined other new additions in resurrecting Skynyrd alongside five original members. They've continued to record and tour, playing for large sold out crowds an amazing 40 years after their inception, but regardless of the greatness of their catalog both new and old, every show ends with "Free Bird".
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
