Free Bird

Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1973. Solo by Allen Collins & Gary Rossington.

Nearly five minutes of accelerating Southern jam after a slide-guitar ballad. It is less a solo than an event, which is why it tops fan polls and gets shouted at every gig.

Free Bird spends its first half as a slow ballad colored by Gary Rossington's slide, then shifts gear around the five-minute mark into one of the longest sustained guitar runs on any hit record. That closing jam is mostly Allen Collins on a Gibson Explorer, cut in a couple of passes and doubled to thicken it, with Rossington added underneath. Collins starts from bluesy phrases and keeps climbing into rapid, repeated high-register runs with a clear debt to Duane Allman. The appeal is stamina and momentum: the band keeps accelerating and the guitars never run out of ideas. Listen for the switch from the ballad's slide lines to Collins's first fast phrases; the song's whole personality changes in a bar.

Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd is ranked #5 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Allen Collins & Gary Rossington and the song was released in 1973. It appears on 53 lists, placing as high as #2 (BIG 100 (WBIG, Washington DC classic rock radio, iHeart)).

The story of Free Bird

The song began with a chord progression Allen Collins had been carrying around for a long time. Ronnie Van Zant initially shrugged it off, feeling there were too many changes to hang a melody on. Roughly two years later, at a rehearsal, he asked Collins to play the sequence again and again, and wrote the melody and words in a matter of minutes. The opening line came from Collins's girlfriend Kathy, later his wife, who once asked him whether he would remember her if she left.

In the band's early club days, when they played several sets a night, the long instrumental ending gave Van Zant's voice a rest, and it steadily grew in length. Billy Powell, then working as a roadie, played an improvised piano introduction to the song that impressed the band so much they hired him as their keyboardist. An earlier 1972 recording existed as a shorter ballad before the extended guitar climax was fully developed.

The definitive version was cut on 3 April 1973 at Studio One in Doraville, Georgia, with Al Kooper producing. Kooper also played organ and Mellotron under the alias 'Roosevelt Gook', while Collins, Gary Rossington and Ed King made up the three-guitar front line. MCA executives pushed to cut the track to radio length and questioned the frantic ending, but the band refused to change it.

The song closed the band's 1973 debut album. MCA released an edited single in November 1974, and it climbed to No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1975. Van Zant often dedicated it on stage to Duane Allman and Berry Oakley of the Allman Brothers Band, and it became the band's permanent show closer. A live recording from Atlanta's Fox Theatre later charted in its own right.

The solo

The famous closing section, which takes over at around the five-minute mark, is driven by Allen Collins, who played a Gibson Explorer for the whole studio solo. Rossington has said the long jam was entirely Collins, who nailed it in a couple of passes; the part was then doubled to thicken the sound, and Rossington's guitar was added underneath afterwards. Rossington played rhythm on his Les Paul and contributed the slide lines in the slower first half using a '61 Gibson SG-shaped Les Paul tuned with two G strings, a glass Coricidin bottle, and a screwdriver wedged under the strings at the nut to raise the action. His amp was a Peavey Mace head into an open-back 4x12. The solo climbs from bluesy phrases into rapid, repeated high-register runs that echo Duane Allman's style.

Legacy

Free Bird became Lynyrd Skynyrd's signature song and a fixture of rock radio, at one point reported as the most-requested song on FM stations. Guitar World ranked its solo No. 3 among the greatest guitar solos in 2010 and 2016. It entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008 and appears on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of songs that shaped rock. Shouting 'Free Bird!' at concerts of any genre became a running joke, and in 2026 it served as a goal and celebration anthem for several US national teams.

Top 10 facts about Free Bird

Allen Collins played the entire studio solo on a Gibson Explorer; Rossington said Collins nailed it in just a couple of passes.
Guitar World
Rossington tuned both the G and B strings to G for his slide part, creating a doubled, 12-string-like effect.
Guitar Player
To keep his slide from hitting the frets, Rossington jammed a screwdriver under the strings at the nut, later replacing it with a short piece of wire.
Guitar Player
Producer Al Kooper played the organ and Mellotron parts, credited under the pseudonym 'Roosevelt Gook'.
Wikipedia
Billy Powell was a roadie when his piano intro to the song earned him a spot in the band.
Wikipedia
The first line was inspired by a question from Allen Collins's girlfriend Kathy about whether he would remember her if she left.
Wikipedia
MCA wanted the song cut to three minutes or so for radio, and the band refused.
Wikipedia
Will to Power's 1988 medley pairing Free Bird with Peter Frampton's 'Baby, I Love Your Way' hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Wikipedia
Director Matthew Vaughn chose the song for Kingsman's church fight because the solo was long enough to cover the whole scene.
Wikipedia
The band did not release an official music video for the song until May 2025, more than 50 years after it came out.
Wikipedia

Live versions

One More from the Road (Fox Theatre, Atlanta) (1976) Roughly fourteen-minute live version that charted again, reaching No. 38 in 1977.
The Old Grey Whistle Test (BBC) (1975) Van Zant dedicated the performance to Duane Allman and Berry Oakley.
Freebird: The Movie (Oakland Coliseum) Filmed performance, slightly shorter than the Atlanta recording.
Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour (1987) After the plane crash, the reunited band played it as an instrumental while crowds sang the words.

Notable covers

Will to Power (1988) Dance-pop medley with 'Baby, I Love Your Way' that topped the Billboard Hot 100.
Dolly Parton Recorded for her rock album Rockstar, incorporating Ronnie Van Zant's original vocal.
Phish Known for performing an a cappella arrangement in concert.

In our lists

The Most-Taught Solos — #48
See Them Live — #2
The Greatest Solo of Every Year — #30
Genre Champions — #29
The 25 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Solos — #2
The 25 Greatest Southern Rock Guitar Solos — #1
The 1970s — #5
Slide Guitar — #1
Twin Guitars & Harmonies — #2
Epic-Length Solos — #4
Most Agreed-Upon — #5
Critics' Picks — #10
Fans' Picks — #5

Sources

What guitar was used on the Free Bird solo?

A gibson explorer, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Free Bird rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#5 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 53 of them.

Who wrote Free Bird?

Allen Collins wrote the music and Ronnie Van Zant wrote the lyrics.

Who plays the guitar solo in Free Bird?

Allen Collins played the long closing solo on the studio version, with Gary Rossington adding slide and rhythm guitar.

What guitar did Allen Collins use on Free Bird?

A Gibson Explorer, according to Guitar World.

How long is Free Bird?

The album version runs 9:08; the single edit is 4:41, and live versions often ran well over ten minutes.

Is Free Bird about Duane Allman?

It was not written about him, but the band frequently dedicated it to Duane Allman and Berry Oakley in concert.