Forty-three years after the sweet sounds of Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic southern rock ballad "Simple Man" hit the airwaves, singer Ronnie Van Zant's isolated vocals are making the rounds on the Internet again.

The haunting, stripped down vocals first appeared on YouTube in 2009.

Van Zant, band mates Steve and Cassie Gaines and three others, died in a plane crash in 1977. The singer was 29 years old.

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Ceudy Gutierrez reads a book to her 2-year-old son, Matias, at their home in Buford, GA, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Ceudy Gutierrez is struggling to make ends meet for herself and her three young kids following her husband’s ICE arrest earlier this fall. (Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez