Billy Powell

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Billy Powell (born June 3, 1952) is the keyboardist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Born William Norris Powell in Corpus Christi, Texas, Powell began playing piano at a young age. He moved to Jacksonville, Florida with his family as a teenager and enrolled at Bishop Kenny High School, where he met Leon Wilkeson, the future bassist of Skynyrd.

Powell worked as a roadie for Skynyrd beginning in 1970. While setting up for a show one day in 1972, he began to play his own version of Skynyrd song "Free Bird". Songwriter and vocalist Ronnie Van Zant was impressed and invited him to join the band as the keyboardist.

Lynyrd Skynyrd received national exposure starting in 1973 with the release of their first album and hit single "Free Bird". They disbanded in 1977 when a plane crash killed members Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines. Powell continued to perform in various bands until Skynyrd's reunion in 1987.

Billy Powell and guitarist Gary Rossington are the only two members from the classic lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd who continue to record and perform with the reunited band today. However, current Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke drummed briefly for the band in an early incarnation.

Powell recently checked himself into a rehab facility in Nashville and quit touring with the band but has since returned.

His son Brandon Powell is a guitarist in the Jacksonville based rock band Syntenic.