[1] Van Zant said that he started using heroin and cocaine to relieve the pressure of performing in front of large audiences.
[1] Van Zant's inspiration for the song was the increasing reckless indulgences of the band members culminating in the evening when guitarist Gary Rossington crashed his Ford Torino into an oak tree along Mandarin Road in Jacksonville, Florida,[1] after excessive consumption of alcohol and other drugs.
Three days after the album was released, the band was devastated by a plane crash in which several members were killed, including Van Zant.
[citation needed] The song is featured in the films Blow (2001), Joe Dirt (2001) and Wild Hogs (2007), at the end of the fourth episode of the HBO television drama series True Blood (2008).
It also appeared in the twenty-first episode of the second season of Miami Vice (1984), and the Universal Studios Florida attraction Disaster!.