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"Free Bird"
US single of the shortened studio recording
Single by Lynyrd Skynyrd
from the album (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)
B-side	"Down South Jukin'"
Released	November 1974 (1974-11)
Recorded	April 3, 1973
Studio	Studio One, Doraville, Georgia, U.S.
Genre	Southern rock hard rock arena rock
Length	9:08 (album version) 4:41 (single version) 10:07 (Skynyrd's Innyrds version)
Label	MCA
Songwriter(s)	Allen Collins Ronnie Van Zant
Producer(s)	Al Kooper
Lynyrd Skynyrd singles chronology
"Sweet Home Alabama" (1974) "Free Bird" (1974) "Saturday Night Special" (1975)
Audio
"Free Bird" (album version) on YouTube
"Free Bird" (Extended Music Version) on YouTube
"Free Bird" (live, undubbed, 1976) on YouTube
Live video
"Free Bird" (live, 1977) on YouTube

"Free Bird", also spelled "Freebird", is a song by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, written by guitarist Allen Collins and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant. The song was released on their 1973 debut studio album. Released as a single in November 1974, "Free Bird" debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 on November 23 at No. 87 and became the band's second Top 40 hit in early 1975, peaking at No. 19 on January 25. A live version of the song re-entered the charts in late 1976, eventually peaking at No. 38 in January 1977.

"Free Bird" achieved No. 3 on Guitar World's list of greatest guitar solos of all time in 2010 and 2016, while placing at No. 8 in their rankings by 2022. It is Lynyrd Skynyrd's signature song, the finale during live performances, and their longest song, often going well over 14 minutes when played live. "Free Bird" was once the most requested song on FM radio, and remains a staple on classic rock stations.

Origins

According to guitarist Gary Rossington, for two years after Allen Collins wrote the initial chords, vocalist Ronnie Van Zant insisted that there were too many for him to create a melody in the belief that the melody needed to change alongside the chords. After Collins played the unused sequence at rehearsal one day, Van Zant asked him to repeat it, then wrote out the melody and lyrics in three or four minutes. The guitar solos that finish the song were added originally to give Van Zant a chance to rest, as the band was playing several sets per night at clubs at the time. Soon afterward, the band learned piano-playing roadie Billy Powell had written an introduction to the song; upon hearing it, they included it as the finishing touch and had him formally join as their keyboardist.

In subsequent interviews, Gary Rossington stated that the record company executives initially felt the song was too long and "wouldn't get any airplay", and that it "needed to be shortened to 3 or 3-1/2 minutes for radio". Also, the band was told, "Why would you ruin a pretty song like that with a wild "LSD-type" ending?" Rossington stated that the band refused to change the length of the song and that "we weren't changing our ways, hell no".

Allen Collins's girlfriend, Kathy, whom he later married, asked him, "If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?" Collins noted the question and it eventually became the opening line of "Free Bird." Also, in an interview filmed during a fishing outing on a boat with Gary Rossington, an interviewer asked Ronnie Van Zant what the song meant. Van Zant replied that in essence, that the song is "what it means to be free, in that a bird can fly wherever he wants to go." He further stated that "everyone wants to be free...that's what this country's all about."

The song is dedicated to the memory of Duane Allman by the band in their live shows. During their 1975 performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test, Van Zant dedicated the song to both Allman and Berry Oakley, commenting, "they're both free birds".

During the 1987–1988 Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour, the band played "Free Bird" as an instrumental. Johnny Van Zant first sang the song on its Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 Tour in Baton Rouge, where the band had been headed in 1977 when several members were killed in a plane crash.

Reception

Upon the single release, Record World said that the band "sees this country-tinged tune soar to further feather their hit nest."

"Free Bird" is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and at number 407 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2009, it was named the 26th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.

In 2008, the 1973 recording of "Free Bird" from the Lynyrd Skynyrd (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nerd 'Skin-'nerd) album on MCA Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Legacy

On Skynyrd's first live album, 1976's One More from the Road, Van Zant can be heard asking the crowd, "What song is it you want to hear?" The calls for "Free Bird" led into a fourteen-and-a-half-minute rendition of the song. It has become something of a humorous tradition for audience members at concerts to shout "Free Bird!" as a request to hear the song, regardless of the performer or style of music. For example, during Nirvana's 1993 MTV Unplugged in New York show, a shout-out for "Free Bird!" eventually resulted in a lyrically slurred, if short, rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama". An attendee of a Bob Dylan concert on June 9, 2016 in Berkeley, California, shouted during the last encore for "Free Bird" to be played, and Dylan and his band unexpectedly obliged, performing an instrumental snippet of the song as the closing track of the show.

Notable cover versions

• A medley by the dance-pop band Will to Power combined "Free Bird" with the Peter Frampton song "Baby, I Love Your Way" in 1988. Titled "Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley," the song spent one week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

• Dolly Parton covered "Free Bird", accompanied by Lynyrd Skynyrd, on her 49th studio album Rockstar.

Personnel

Lynyrd Skynyrd

• Ronnie Van Zant – vocals
• Allen Collins – guitars
• Gary Rossington – rhythm and slide guitar
• Ed King – bass
• Bob Burns – drums, percussion
• Billy Powell – piano
• "Roosevelt Gook" (Producer Al Kooper) – organ, Mellotron

Additional personnel on 1976 live version

• Leon Wilkeson – bass
• Steve Gaines – guitars
• Artimus Pyle – drums

Chart and sales performance

The song has sold 2,111,000 downloads in the digital era, as of 2013.

Weekly charts

Studio version

Live version

Certifications

In popular culture

• In the 1994 film Forrest Gump, the song is featured in the scene when Jenny is out on the balcony, about to jump.
• In the 2004 action-adventure game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the song is featured on the in-game radio station K-DST.
• The 2014 film Kingsman: The Secret Service, the song's solo plays during a scene in which Harry Hart (Colin Firth) engages in a massive, extremely violent, church brawl. Director Matthew Vaughn revealed he picked "Free Bird" specifically because its guitar solo was long enough to encompass the whole scene.

References

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3. Breihan, Tom (June 11, 2021). "The Number Ones: Will To Power's "Baby, I Love Your Way / Freebird Medley (Free Baby)"". Stereogum. Retrieved October 10, 2022. ...Peter Frampton's "Baby, I Love Your Way" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird," two entries in the grand pantheon of '70s lighters-up arena-rock power ballads.
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18. Kozak, Roman (August 30, 1980). "U.S. Rock Groups Will Play In China". Billboard Magazine: 10. Retrieved January 4, 2024 – via Google Books. "'Free Bird,' the only Skynyrd number they perform on stage now, has become FM radio's most popular request song, overtaking Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven,' they say.
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• 1973 songs
• 1974 singles
• Lynyrd Skynyrd songs
• Number-one singles in Norway
• Joey + Rory songs
• Hard rock ballads
• 1970s ballads
• Song recordings produced by Al Kooper
• Songs written by Allen Collins
• Songs written by Ronnie Van Zant
• MCA Records singles