October 20 on the Dial: Remembering Skynyrd, Happy Birthday Tom Petty, and This Week’s Music News
Written by Jarvis Prime on October 20, 2026
A Southern rock anniversary that still hurts, a Gainesville birthday worth celebrating, a Mötley Crüe return to Vegas, Brothers Osborne's new record due Friday, and the latest on the radio business.
Good evening, south Georgia. If you've got the radio on today, there's a fair chance you've heard a little extra Lynyrd Skynyrd, and there's a reason for that. Forty-nine years ago today, on October 20, 1977, the band's chartered plane went down in the woods near Gillsburg, Mississippi, on its way from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge. It ran out of fuel while the crew was trying to make an emergency landing. Singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines were killed, along with the band's assistant road manager and both pilots. The hardest part to think about is that 'Street Survivors' had come out just two days earlier. Turn it up a notch tonight for the boys from Jacksonville.
There's a happier date just down I-75, too. Tom Petty was born on this day in 1950 in Gainesville, Florida, and grew up in the neighborhood locals call the Duckpond. He'd have been 76 today. We can't think of a better excuse to play 'Refugee' twice.
In tour news, Mötley Crüe are going back to Las Vegas. Ultimate Classic Rock reports the band will play eight nights of 'Carnival of Sins' at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, from March 19 through April 3, 2027. The setlist is fan-voted and is billed as including songs that haven't been played live in decades. Presales start today, and general tickets go on sale Friday, October 23. Part of the proceeds goes to the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth.
On the new-music side, Brothers Osborne release their fifth studio album, 'Watertown,' this Friday, October 23, on MCA. It has 11 tracks produced by Jay Joyce and features the duo's first guest spots on a full-length record: Cody Johnson joins them on 'Born and Raised Hell,' and Stephen Wilson Jr. turns up on 'Tough Kid.' Last Friday was a big one for roots music fans. Richard Thompson released 'Hippies, Thugs, and Heroes,' Bruce Cockburn put out 'The Blood of Others,' Vince Gill shared an EP called 'Marty & Me,' and Dave Alvin's 'Blackjack David' came back as a deluxe reissue.
Here's a bit of nostalgia: this month marks ten years since Desert Trip. Across two October weekends in 2016, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Roger Waters and the Who all played Indio, California. We may not see a lineup like that again.
Finally, some news from our side of the microphone. Cumulus Media announced on October 16 that it has completed its restructuring and come out of Chapter 11 as a privately held company, with about $550 million in debt eliminated. A new Nielsen report also says radio still reaches more Americans each month than any other measured media platform, 92 percent of adults. That's no surprise to us, and we're glad you're one of them. Stay tuned to Pretoria Fields Radio.
— The Pretoria Fields Radio news desk
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