One of the top southern bands of all time has gone through some really bad luck, and now they say farewell to another fallen member.
Billy Powell, the former roadie who became a rock star for his keyboard work with the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died early Wednesday morning apparently of heart problems at his home in Orange Park, Fla., police said. He was 56.
Police received a telephone call at 12:55 a.m. from Powell, who complained that he was feeling dizzy and was having a hard time breathing, Orange Park Police Chief James H. Boivin said by phone.
When police and rescue workers arrived, they found Powell in his bedroom with the phone nearby, Boivin said. Powell did not respond to CPR and was pronounced dead at 1:52 a.m., the chief said.
The cause of death has yet to be determined, but police believe it was heart-related, Boivin said.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the major voices of hard-driving, bluesy Southern rock ‘n’ roll in the early 1970s and became a global attraction by 1977 when three band members, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, and three others died in a plane crash in Mississippi. Powell was seriously injured.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
Read more about the band at http://www.lynyrdskynyrdhistory.com/
