WILMINGTON — Lynyrd Skynyrd, the prototypical Southern rock band that scored iconic hits with “Sweet Home, Alabama” and “Free Bird,” is coming to the N.C. Azalea Festival.
The group, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, will perform outdoors 7 p.m. April 11 on Cape Fear Community College’s campus in downtown Wilmington.
Tickets, which are $40, went on sale Saturday at the Festival’s website, ncAzaleaFestival.org.
“I hope I don’t burst out singing,” said festival President Donna Cameron, a big smile on her face, as she announced the band’s appearance last week at Cape Fear Community College’s art gallery. “This is going to be fun.”
Skynyrd’s appearance adds a distinct country twang to the 2013 Azalea Festival. Two weeks ago, festival officials announced that North Carolina’s own Avett Brothers will perform April 12, also at CFCC.
Originally formed in 1964 in Jacksonville, Fla., as “The Noble Five,” the band adopted the name Lynyrd Skynyrd as a back-handed tribute to a Jacksonville physical education teacher who was notorious for enforcing a no-long-hair rule at Robert E. Lee High School.
Discovered in Atlanta in 1972 by Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat and Tears, the band was signed to Kooper’s Sounds of the South label and opened for The Who during its 1973 U.S. Quadrophenia tour.
The following year, the band charted with “Sweet Home, Alabama,” a cheeky response to Neil Young’s songs “Alabama” and “Southern Man.” In fact, Young and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant were friends, and Young wrote some material for Skynyrd that was never recorded.
Later in 1974, Skynyrd hit the Billboard charts again with “Free Bird,” which had originally appeared on the band’s 1973 debut album, “Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd.” The song became so ubiquitous that, even today, some fans can be counted on to yell, “Play ‘Free Bird!’ ” at any rock show, regardless of who’s on stage.
The band’s first incarnation came to an end in 1977 after a charter plane crash killed Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines and injured a number of others, including guitarist Gary Rossington.
Skynyrd reorganized in 1987, when Van Zant’s younger brother Johnny joined as lead singer and principal songwriter. The band’s current lineup includes Rossington (the sole surviving original member), veteran Rickey Medlocke and Mark “Sparky” Matejka on guitar; Johnny Van Zant on vocals; Robert Kearns on bass; Michael Cartellone on drums; and Peter “Keys” Pisarczyk on keyboards.
More than 30 musicians have been members of the band over the years. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s most recent album was 2012’s “Last of a Dyin’ Breed.”
The 2013 N.C. Azalea Festival will be held April 10-14 in Wilmington.