Biography band alabama

Members:
Randy Owen: December 13, 1949 -
Teddy Gentry: January 22, 1952 -  
Jeff Cook: August 27, 1949 - November 7, 2022
Mark Herndon: May 11, 1955 -

Formed in Fort Payne, the country super group Alabama blended the unbeatable talents of lead singer, rhythm guitarist and songwriter Randy Owen, bass player, songwriter and harmony vocalist Teddy Gentry, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Jeff Cook and drummer Mark Herndon.

First cousins Owen and Gentry grew up on separate cotton farms on Lookout Mountain, but the pair learned how to play guitar and also sang in church together before they were six years old. They played in high school bands before teaming with another cousin, Jeff Cook, to form Young Country in 1969. Once Owen and Cook graduated from college, they moved with Gentry to Anniston and changed the band’s name to Wildcountry in 1972.

Owen, Gentry and Cook became professional musicians in 1973, taking up residence in a hon