William Norris "Billy" Powell (June 3, 1952 – January 28, 2009) was an
American musician. He was the longtime
keyboardist of
Southern rock band
Lynyrd Skynyrd, from 1970 until his death in 2009.
Biography
Born in
Corpus Christi, Texas, Powell grew up in a
military family (his father was in the
U.S. Navy) and spent several years of his childhood living in Italy where his father was stationed. After his father died of
cancer in 1960, he moved with his family back to the United States and settled in
Jacksonville, Florida. He met his lifelong friend,
Leon Wilkeson in elementary school. Billy's interest in piano began to grow and he began taking
piano lessons from a local teacher named Madeleine Brown. She swore he did not need her, claiming that Billy was a natural and picked things up well on his own. When it was time for high school, his mother enrolled Billy and his brother, Ricky at
Sanford Naval Academy in Sanford, FL.
Musical career
Billy returned to Jacksonville where he enrolled at
Bishop Kenny High School. When he graduated in 1970, he enrolled briefly in a community college, majoring in Music Theory. Around this time he found work as a
roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Billy remained a member of the Skynyrd crew for two years (which included, amongst the grittier shows, highlights such as Skynyrd landing a support slot for Leslie West's "Mountain") In his second year with them, 1972, Skynyrd played one particular gig, a show at the Bolles school...
Read More