Lynyrd Skynyrd Must Change Name After Leonard Skinner Jr Lawsuit

Legendary rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd must change their name following a lawsuit by Leonard Skinner Junior. Skynyrd named their band after their High School gym teacher Leonard Skinner. Everyone lived in harmony for 50 years. That is until Skinner’s son, Leonard Skinner Jr filed a lawsuit.

Skynyrd members Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington were students at John Wilkes Booth High School in Jacksonville, Florida during the 1960s. Leonard Skinner was the gym teacher who didn’t take kindly to rock n roll music or boys with long hair. Legend has it that Skinner would often put the boys in the hole and the hotbox as a punishment for breaking the no long hair policy.

Leonard Skinner

Van Zant, Rossington and the other band members developed a series of running in-jokes about Skinner and ultimately decided to pay “tongue-in-cheek” homage to Skinner by naming the band after him. As they were gaining popularity, they renamed the band Lynyrd Skynyrd from Leonard Skinner to avoid any legal troubles.

After Skynyrd became international superstars, Skinner seemed to enjoy the relationship. The band gave hm VIP tickets whenever they played in Florida and would introduce him to the crowd. Skinner would joke, “You still need to get a hair cut boy” and the crowd would love it.

Leonard Skinner Jr Lawsuit

After Leonard Skinner Died in 2010, Leonard Jr. filed a suit with Florida’s Middle District Court. Young Leonard claimed that his father told him on his deathbed that he had a handshake deal with Ronnie Van Zant. The deal allegedly gave Van Zant use of the name Leonard Skinner aka Lynyrd Skynyrd for the sum of $1 per year. The deal would cease after either man’s death. Van Zant died in 1977.

Leonard Junior claims that there has been no deal since 1977. Leonard is suing retroactively for the band using the family name without permission for 46 years. The suit was held up in court for years with Skinner finally being awarded $46 million in 2017. Skynyrd appealed and the suit went all the way to the Supreme Court. The SCOTUS reversed that decision awarding Skinner a mere $100 but ruling that Skynyrd must change the name.

Gary Rossington

Gary Rossington is the only living original member. There is still a Van Zant brother in the band and Ronnie’s plumber plays guitar. Rossington wants to name the band F*ck Leonard Skinner Jr but was outvoted. Other names the band is considering includes, “The Jacksonville Scrotums” “Florida Men” “Hot Buttered Amish” and “Klingons on Uranus”. Stay tuned.