Alabama is more than just the name of the band: It’s the place where they built the foundation for their musical career. After more than a decade of pounding the pavement, Alabama saw their peak success in the 1980s where they amassed nearly 30 No. 1 hits including “Mountain Music,” “Dixieland Delight” and “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band).” But they didn’t always operate under the name that’s taken from their home state.
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The Origins of Alabama
The trio of Randy Owen and his cousins Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook were all born and raised around Fort Payne, Alabama, with Owen and Gentry raised on farms on Lookout Mountain where they learned to play guitar and performed in church together, according to All Music Guide to Country. The trio got their start in high school when they formed the band Young Country in 1969, their first show being at a high school talent show where they won first place.
In 1972, they changed their name to Wildcountry and saw the addition of drummer Bennett Vartanian. After quitting their jobs to pursue music full-time, they went full throttle into the bar scene, building a regional fanbase as they performed at bars across the Southeast. Their burgeoning career started picking up steam in 1973 when they relocated to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and played six nights a week at The Bowery.
After the trio signed a one-year contract with GRT Records in 1977, they were encouraged to change their name to The Alabama Band, which was later shortened to Alabama. Their native Fort Payne is described in Country Music: The Encyclopedia as, “a locale where country music has strong roots.”
Their love for their home state is reflected in such songs as “My Home’s in Alabama,” which was released as a single in 1980 and reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It served as the title track of the album that was released that same year that also featured their first pair of No. 1 hits, “Tennessee River” and “Why Lady Why.” Two of their signature hits, “Mountain Music” and “Song of the South,” also celebrate their Alabama roots. They also collaborated with Brad Paisley on “Old Alabama” in 2011.
The group disbanded in 2004, but reunited in 2010, performing together off and on in the years since. Alabama has since become the most successful band in country music history with more than 75 million albums sold. They were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019.
In November 2022, Cook passed away from complications with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 73.
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum
