song to both Allman and Berry Oakley, commenting, "they're both free birds". On 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 "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 Stones 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2009, it was named the 26th best hard rock song of all time by VH1. 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 wanna 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". In 2016, an attendee of a Bob Dylan concert in Berkeley, California, shouted for "Free Bird" to be played, and Dylan and his band unexpectedly obliged. Notable cover versions The song has been covered many times. Among the most notable is a version by American dance-pop group Will to Power who created a medley of this song and the 1976 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. Personnel Lynyrd Skynyrd (studio version 1973) Ronnie Van Zant – vocals Allen Collins – lead and acoustic guitars Gary Rossington – rhythm and slide guitars Ed King – bass guitar Bob Burns – drums Billy Powell – piano "Roosevelt Gook" (Producer Al Kooper) – organ, Mellotron Additional personnel (live version 1976) Leon Wilkeson – bass guitar Steve Gaines – rhythm and lead 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 The song has been featured