"Freebird" redirects here. For the 2013 animated film, see Free Birds. For the Beatles song, see Free as a Bird. For the Germanic legal concept, see Vogelfrei. For other uses, see Freebird (disambiguation).
"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[1]
hard rock[2]
arena rock[3]
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",[4][5][6] also spelled "Freebird",[7][8][9] 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[10]
and became the band's second Top 40 hit in early 1975, peaking at No. 19 on January 25.[11]
A live version of the song re-entered the charts in late 1976,[12]
eventually peaking at No. 38 in January 1977.[13]
"Free Bird" achieved No. 3 on Guitar World's list of greatest guitar solos of all time in 2010 and 2016,[14][15] while placing at No. 8 in their rankings by 2022.[16] 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.[17] "Free Bird" was once the most requested song on FM radio,[18] and remains a staple on classic rock stations.
^"The History Of Southern Rock In 30 Songs". Classic Rock Magazine. June 5, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2019. The track that, more than any other, defined the southern rock genre.
^Cavanagh, David (2015). Good Night and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years of John Peel Helped to Shape Modern Life. Faber & Faber. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-57130-248-2.
^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.
^Lynyrd Skynyrd. (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd). Songs of the South (Universal City), 1973. Hosted at Discogs Archived April 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
^Lynyrd Skynyrd. "Free Bird / Searching". MCA Records (Universal City), 1976. Hosted at Discogs Archived April 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
^Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 9th ed., p. 403. Billboard Books (New York), 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
^Lynyrd Skynyrd. "Free Bird / Sweet Home Alabama / Double Trouble". Leeds Music Ltd. (London), 1976. Hosted at Discogs "Discogs". Archived from the original on June 29, 2004. Retrieved June 9, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Retrieved June 9, 2014.
^Lynyrd Skynyrd. Official Website. "(pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd) Archived February 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine". Retrieved June 9, 2014.
^Cite error: The named reference wsj was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^
"Billboard Charts Archive, November 23, 1974". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
^
"Lynyrd Skynyrd Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
^
"Billboard Charts Archive, December 4, 1976". Billboard. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
^
"Billboard Charts Archive, December 4, 1976". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
^Guitar World Magazine (October 1, 2010). The Complete History of Guitar World: 30 Years of Music, Magic, and Six-String Mayhem. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-4768-5592-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^"Hear Allen Collins' Isolated Guitar Solo from Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" | Guitar World". July 18, 2016. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
^
"The 50 greatest guitar solos of all time". Guitar World. July 20, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
^
"Lynyrd Skynyrd Biography". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
^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.
"FreeBird", also spelled "Freebird", is a song by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, written by guitarist Allen Collins and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant...
FreeBirds is a 2013 American animated science fiction comedy buddy film directed by Jimmy Hayward (As of 2024, it is the last film Hayward has ever directed...
"Free as a Bird" is a single released in December 1995 by English rock band the Beatles. The song was originally written and recorded in 1977 as a home...
"Bird Set Free" is a song recorded by Sia for her seventh studio album This Is Acting (2016). It was released as the first promotional single from the...
the Southern rock genre with songs such as "Sweet Home Alabama" and "FreeBird". After releasing five studio albums and one live album, the band's career...
Freebird Airlines (Turkish: Hürkuş Havayolu Taşımacılık ve Ticaret A.Ş.) is a Turkish charter airline based in Florya, Bakirköy, Istanbul. Its main base...
Bird Is Free is an album by Charlie Parker that documents a concert given at Rockland Palace, New York City, on 26 September 1952. In 1997, Jazz Classics...
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (/ˈeɪviːz/), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of...
FreeBird Innovations, Inc. is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota and formed in about 2003. The company specializes in...
ceremony. The wedding reception was one of the first public performances of "FreeBird" complete with the trademark extended guitar jam at the end. Collins's...
The Dorna FreeBird is an Iranian light-sport aircraft, designed and produced by Hava Faza Dorna Co. of Hasanabad. The aircraft is supplied complete and...
include a cover of Jimmie Rodgers' "T for Texas" and an 11:30 version of "FreeBird". The first CD release, in 1986, was a single disc omitting two tracks...
it was the most downloaded free game in the App Store for iOS. During this period, its developer said that Flappy Bird was earning $50,000 a day from...
blackbird in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Blackbird, blackbirds, black bird or black birds may refer to: Two groups of birds in the parvorder Passerida:...
up gooney bird in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Gooney bird may refer to: Albatross or gooney bird Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Gooney Bird, a military...
(in that case, Larry Bird). Free agents who qualify for this exception are called "qualifying veteran free agents" or "BirdFree Agents" in the CBA, and...
Freebirds, a professional wrestling stable FreeBirds, a 2013 American 3D computer-animated buddy comedy film FreeBird, a song by the American rock band Lynyrd...
(2006–present), and voiced the titular character in Marmaduke (2010) and Reggie in FreeBirds (2013). He stars as Mobius M. Mobius in the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Birdbrain or bird brain may refer to: Bird brain, the brain of a bird, including the Avian pallium Bird intelligence, intelligence...
"Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", and what became their signature song, "FreeBird", later dedicated to the late Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band...