ABOUT CASSIE GAINES
Remembered for her performances with the popular rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd , this backup singer died along with several of her band mates in a 1977 plane crash near Gillsburg, Mississippi. At the time of the crash, she was on her way to a tour stop in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Soon after joining Lynyrd Skynyrd, she became a member of the band's all-female vocal sub-group, The Honkettes (a trio that also included JoJo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins).
She and Steve Gaines inspired the 2001 Drive-By Truckers song "Cassie's Brother."
Steve Gaines, the guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd, also died in the plane crash that killed his sister Cassie. Tragically, the siblings' mother died in a car accident less than two years later.
She and "Sweet Home Alabama" co-writer Ed King were both members of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
