FEBRUARY 17, 1950

LAKOTA/CHEROKEE LYNYRD SKYNYRD & BLACKFOOT GUITARIST RICKEY MEDLOCKE BORN

Raised by his maternal grandparents, Rickey Lynn Green was born in Jacksonville, Florida. His grandfather, Paul “Shorty” Medlocke, was a bluegrass musician and taught his grandson to play a miniature banjo. Rickey started performing onstage at age 3, began teaching himself to play the guitar by age 5, and eventually mastered the banjo, guitar, drums, mandolin, dobro, and keyboards. After graduating high school, Medlocke formed his first band, Fresh Garbage. In 1969, now going by Medlocke, he joined the group Blackfoot as lead guitarist and was with it until 1971 when he recorded with Lynyrd Skynyrd as a session musician, initially as a drummer. Rickey returned to Blackfoot in 1972 and remained with the group until switching back to Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1996 as a lead guitarist and primary songwriter. He has remained with the group since then. Medlocke was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Sources:  

“Rickey Medlocke,” The Famous People.  Retrieved 10/13/2022, Rickey Medlocke - Bio, Facts, Family Life of Singer (thefamouspeople.com)

Wikipedia 

Photo:  Janet Dancer, 6/23/2009.  Permissive Use pursuant to Creative Commons license.