Lynyrd Skynyrd, is an American rock band best known for having popularized the Southern rock genre during the 1970s. With roots tracing to the formation of My Backyard in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964, the band was also known by names such as The Noble Five and One Percent, before finally deciding on "Lynyrd Skynyrd" in 1969. The band gained worldwide recognition for its live performances and signature songs "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird". At the peak of their success, band members Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines, died in an airplane crash in 1977, putting an abrupt end to the 1970s

ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Groves, Texas. The band has, since 1970, consisted of bassist and vocalist Dusty Hill, guitarist and lead vocalist Billy Gibbons (the band's leader, main lyricist and musical arranger), and drummer Frank Beard. "As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers", according to musician, critic and collector Michael "Cub" Koda. "Gibbons is one of America's finest blues guitarists working in the arena rock idiom [...] while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support." The band released its first album—called ZZ Top's First Album—in 1971.