Ronnie Van Zant
On October 20, 1977, a plane carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ran out of fuel outside Gillsburg, Mississippi. The passengers had been informed about potential problems with the Convair CV-240 and were told to brace for a crash. Van Zant died on impact from head injuries suffered after the aircraft struck a tree. Bandmates Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines, along with assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray, were also killed. The rest of the band was seriously injured. Van Zant was 29 years old.
Ronnie Fields
Born and raised in Chicago, Fields played at Farragut Academy in Chicago from 1992–1996 and was a teammate of Kevin Garnett during the 1994 season. Fields had a (reported) 50-inch vertical leap. "ESPN HS" regards him as the best freshman in the country for the 1992–93 season. He was a 3-time Parade All American selection (1994–96). He was also the first sophomore to ever play in the "Best of the Best" game at the Nike All American camp in 1993, a game that featured future NBA MVP'S Allen Iverson and Kevin Garnett, and High School Player of the Year award winners Ron Mercer and Jerod Ward.