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Jeff Cook, Country Band Alabama Guitarist & Co-Founder, Dies at 73
Jeff Cook, Country Band Alabama Guitarist & Co-Founder, Dies at 73 Legendary country musician Jeff Cook has sadly passed away. The famed guitarist was a co-founding member of country band Alabama, alongside his cousins, Randy…

Jeff Cook, Country Band Alabama Guitarist & Co-Founder, Dies at 73

Legendary country musician Jeff Cook has sadly passed away.

The famed guitarist was a co-founding member of country band Alabama, alongside his cousins, Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry.

A rep for the band confirmed that Jeff passed away at the age of 73, at his vacation home in Destin, Florida, after an extended battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

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Tributes to Jeff poured in on social media, including a heartfelt one from Kenny Chesney.

“Jeff Cook, and all of the guys in Alabama, were so generous with wisdom and fun when I got to tour with them as a young artist,” Kenny shared said in a statement. “They showed a kid in a T-shirt that country music could be rock, could be real, could be someone who looked like me. Growing up in East Tennessee, that gave me the heart to chase this dream.”

Originally named Wildcountry, as Alabama the band hit a lot of milestones together, including eight Number One songs including “Tennessee River,” “Feels So Right,” and “Mountain Music.”

Their best known songs are “Dixieland Delight,” “Song of the South,” and “I’m in a Hurry (and Don’t Know Why).”

Alabama also had a rare feat in winning CMA’s Entertainer of the Year Award for three years straight, in 1982, 1983, and 1984.