Peter Frampton says he found out via TV that the stage crew he shared with Lynyrd Skynyrd were involved in the band’s devastating plane crash in 1977.
The disaster claimed the lives of Skynyrd’s lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gains, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick and the plane’s pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray. Other band members suffered serious injuries, including the band’s stage crew.
Frampton tells Access Atlanta: “We are virtually joined at the hip in many ways. We used to play stadiums together. But I think what many people don’t know is that we shared road crews.
“I was in LA when I turned on the TV and saw that the plane had gone down and that half of my crew were on it. Luckily, they survived but when you go through that, it’s like you’re blood brothers.”
He’ll join Lynyrd Skynyrd and guests including Charlie Daniels, Cheap Trick, John Hiatt, Jason Isbell, Robert Randolph, Donnie Van Zant, Blackberry Smoke, Trace Adkins, Warren Haynes, Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Al Kooper and Aaron Lewis, for a one-off tribute show titled One More For The Fans which will be held at the Fox Theatre, Atlanta on November 12.
Also performing will be Gregg Allman, who won the Living Legend award at the Classic Rock Roll Of Honour gala event in LA on Tuesday evening.
And founding member Gary Rossington says the show will be a way to honour the band members who are no longer here.
He says: “I couldn’t believe all of these guys want to come and play a song of ours. I think Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines and the guys who aren’t here anymore really deserve this.
“We had a dream back in the day to be in a big band and make it, then it was taken away from them real quick. It’s 37 years since the plane crash, and they didn’t get a chance to see how Skynyrd developed, how Freebird became an anthem. So I get to tell their story.”
