Rickey Medlocke

Rickey Medlocke (born February 17, 1950) is an American musician best known as the frontman/guitarist for the southern rock band Blackfoot. During his career he has also played with Lynyrd Skynyrd as a drummer (1971) before rejoining Blackfoot in 1972 as a guitarist, joining Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1996 where he continues to tour and record.

Being of Blackfoot ancestry, Medlocke was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Early life

Rickey Medlocke was born on February 17, 1950, in Jacksonville, Florida. He was raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandfather, Shorty Medlocke, was a well-known Delta blues musician and taught his grandson to play a miniature banjo. Medlocke started performing onstage at age three, and his musical abilities increased over the years. He began teaching himself to play the guitar by age five and was playing drums in Shorty's band at age eight. Over the next several years Medlocke mastered the banjo, guitar, drums, mandolin, dobro and keyboards. He had a melodic singing voice and had taught himself to sing and play guitar at the same time. After graduating high school, Medlocke formed his first band, Blackfoot, where he was lead vocalist and lead guitarist.