When Lynyrd Skynyrd was in need of a guitar player to replace recently departed Ed King, Cassie recommended her younger brother, Steve, who joined the band soon after.
On October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-240 carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina to Baton Rouge, Louisianacrashed outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi. The crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, as well as pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray.[2] Though Cassie Gaines initially refused to board the flight, she was — against her better judgment — convinced to do so by other passengers.[3] Her hesitation was due to a small fire in one of the engines the previous day. She intended to travel in the tour trucks but boarded the flight due to Van Zant's persuasion.[4]
Gaines survived the initial accident but bled to death while rescuers attempted to reach the accident site and remove victims for medical treatment.[5] According to controversial claims by survivor Billy Powell, Gaines bled to death after the accident in Powell's arms due to deep lacerations.[6]
On February 15, 1979, the mother of Steve and Cassie, also named Cassie LaRue Gaines, was killed in an automobile accident near the cemetery where Steve and Cassie are buried. She was buried near her children.
^Simmonds, Jeremy (2012). The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. pp. 101–102. ISBN978-1556527548.
^Talevski, Nick (2010). Rock Obituaries: Knocking on Heaven's Door. Omnibus Press. pp. 191–192. ISBN9780857121172.
