38 Special (also written .38 Special and Thirty-Eight Special) is an American rock band named after Smith & Wesson's .38 Special cartridge. The group was formed by neighborhood friends Don Barnes and Donnie Van Zant in 1975 in Jacksonville, Florida.[citation needed] Donnie's older brother Ronnie was lead singer for the band Lynyrd Skynyrd until his death in a tragic airplane crash involving other members of the group and their crew. Another brother, Johnny, is now Lynyrd Skynyrd's lead singer.
By the early 1980s, 38 Special began amalgamating southern-rock and arena rock in their music, thereby kicking off a string of successful albums and singles.
Their first high-charting song was "Hold On Loosely" (1981); "Caught Up In You" (1982) and "If I'd Been The One" (1983) both hit #1 on Billboard magazine's Album Rock Tracks chart. "Back Where You Belong" (1984) continued the annual sequence of radio favorites, and "Second Chance" (1989), a #1 hit on Billboard's adult contemporary chart, was sung by former Specialist Max Carl - now a member of Grand Funk Railroad.
38 Special's song "Trooper With An Attitude" was the opening sequence song in Broken Lizard's Super Troopers. The movie was released in 2001.
In 2007, 38 Special was the opening act on Lynyrd Skynyrd and Hank Williams Jr.'s Rowdy Frynds Tour, and on September 27, 2008, they filmed a CMT Crossroads with country singer Trace Adkins, performing both artists' hits from over the years.
The current lineup consists of guitarist and co-lead singer Don Barnes, rhythm guitarist and co-lead singer Donnie Van Zant, guitarist Danny Chauncey, bassist Larry Junstrom, keyboardist Bobby Capps, and drummer Gary Moffatt.
