Leslie Hawkins~Backup SingerThe Honkettes was the name given to the female backing singers of the Southern Rock and Roll band Lynyrd Skynyrd. These members were Cassie Gaines JoJo Billingsley, and Leslie Hawkins. It was on Cassie's recommendation that her brother, Steve auditioned for and eventually got the band's third guitar slot in May 1976, replacing the departed Ed King.
Cassie Gaines was killed in the October 20, 1977 plane crash near Gillsburg, Mississippi that also took the lives of her brother Steve Gaines, Skynyrd vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and three others. Leslie Hawkins survived the crash but was seriously injured; her musical career was impaired as a result. Billingsley was home due to an illness, and had warned other band members that she thought the plane unsafe. Billingsley and Hawkins reunited with Lynyrd Skynyrd to perform at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Billingsley died on June 24, 2010 after a battle with cancer.
Since Lynyrd Skynyrd's reunion in 1987, Gary Rossington's wife [[Dale Krantz-Rossington] has been a Honkette with the band.3 other singers have been Dale's singing partners at various time periods. Carol Chase joined the band, along with Rickey Medlocke and Hughie Thommason in the summer of 1996. She and Dale are still the Honkettes today.
Leslie Hawkins talks a Lynyrd Skynyrd at 3:31 in this video