Ed King, Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist and 'Sweet Home Alabama' co-writer, dies at 68

Ed King, a former guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd who co-wrote the band’s iconic hit “Sweet Home Alabama,” has died at the age of 68, his family announced on Facebook Thursday.

“Ed was our brother, and a great songwriter and guitar player,” Lynyrd Skynyrd co-founder Gary Rossington said in a statement. “I know he will be reunited with the rest of the boys in Rock and Roll Heaven. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

King’s musical career started in the ’60s as the guitarist for Strawberry Alarm Clock, a psychedelic rock band he co-founded. King first met the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd when they opened for Strawberry Alarm Clock on a 1968 tour, and he later joined the Southern rock band in 1972 as one of three guitarists. In 1974, King helped write the music for “Sweet Home Alabama,” which went on to become the band’s biggest hit. King’s voice can be heard counting “one, two, three” at the beginning of the song, before he launches into the iconic opening guitar riff.

“Ronnie wrote the lyrics and Ed [King] and I wrote the music,” Rossington told Garden and Gun in a 2015 interview about the making of “Sweet Home Alabama.”

Asked why he thinks “Sweet Home Alabama” continues to resonate almost 50 years later, Rossington said, “When people hear the first little beat of it, their reaction is to sing. If you can write a song that makes people have emotions and show their feelings, that’s a powerful thing and a beautiful thing.”