Jeff Cook, a Country Music Hall of Fame member as one of the co-founders of the country group Alabama, died Monday at age 73 at his home in Destin, Florida. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2012 and revealed his condition to the public in 2017.
Cook was immediately recognizable to fans as the key instrumentalist in the group, playing guitar and fiddle as well as contributing vocals in three-part harmony alongside co-founders Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry, his cousins. (Cook is pictured above, at left, alongside Owen and Gentry at a 2016 event heralding the opening of an Alabama exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.)
The group accumulated more than 40 No. 1 country singles and a dozen top 10 albums, with smashes in Alabama’s heyday including “Mountain Music,” “Tennessee River,” “Dixieland Delight,” “Feels So Right” and “Song of the South.” Alabama was reported to have sold more than 75 million records globally.
“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,” said Kenny Chesney, upon hearing of Cook’s death. “But maybe even more,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.”
The group was a big awards favorite in the ’80s, getting the top honor from the CMA Awards, entertainer of the year, in for three straight years in 1982-84. The band had an even longer streak with the ACM Awards, getting the entertainer of the year vote from 1982 through 1986; the ACMs also named Alabama artist of the decade in 1989. Alabama was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
Cook’s most recent honor was being elected to the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019. His multi-instrumental prowess was evident in the fact that he had not just been inducted into the Fiddlers Hall of Fame but been named Gibson’s Guitarist of the Year. In 1985, he joined Albert Lee and Steve Morse in being named one of the top three guitarists in Guitar Player magazine’s reader poll.
“Jeff Cook spent a lifetime in music, earning a license as a broadcast engineer before he was old enough to drive a car and working as an on-air radio personality while still in high school,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “Everything he did was rooted in his deep love of music, a love he shared with millions.”
“Few bands are more ubiquitous in country music today than Alabama,” said Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association. “Jeff was instrumental to Alabama’s high-energy stage presence and authentic country sound. My deepest condolences to Jeff’s family, friends and the band.” Cook’s death is likely to come up for mention on this year’s CMAs telecast, which takes place Wednesday.
Alabama took a long time off after announcing that the group would be officially retiring after a farewell tour that ended in 2004. However, the group reunited for an event in 2011 and officially returned to touring in 2013, on the occasion of what was billed as a 40th anniversary tour.
The Tennessean reported that Cook’s condition had him finally take leave of being a touring member in 2018, but the group kept his gear on the road in case he was able to show up for sporadic appearances. A title song he co-wrote for their 2015 album “No Bad Days” became an anthem directly related to his condition.
“After I got the Parkinson’s diagnosis, people would quote the song to me and say, ‘No bad days,’ ” Cook was quoted as saying in a 2019 Tennessean interview. “They write me letters, notes and emails and they sign ‘No Bad Days.’ I know the support is there. They join me. People I don’t know come up to me and say, ‘How ya feeling?’ You just got to live it every day and take it as it comes. Prayer does work. AndI know there was a lot of praying going on.”
Jeffrey Alan Cook was born Aug. 27, 1949 and lived most of his young life in Fort Payne, Alabama. He became a local DJ while he was still in high school, having established a love for electronics early on and received his broadcast license at age 14. Later in life, he owned radio and TV stations and founded Cook Sound Studios, also based in Fort Payne. The beginnings of Alabama came in the late ’60s as he and his two cousins moved to Myrtle Beach, SC to play for tips, finally getting their major label deal six years later.
His cousins continue to tour under the Alabama banner, albeit not in the arenas they once commanded, with the next round of dates set to resume Nov. 26.
Cook named Elvis Presley guitarist James Burton and the Ventures as his own personal guitar influences. “Life would be very dull without music,” he said. “It is the soundtrack of life.” To guitarists just starting out, he offered the advice: “Don’t give up the first time your fingers split or get really sore. it is worth the pain.” HIs mission in life, he told Extreme Guitars, was to “get through it sanely, give myself as much as possible to my fans (and) wrap it up with dignity.”
Cook is survived by his wife, Lisa Cook, whom he married in 1995, along with his mother Betty Cook and his brother David Cook. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to the Jeff and Lisa Cook Foundation here.
Memorial service information will be released at a later date.
For a personal appreciation of Cook and Alabama, read here.
Memorial plans will be revealed at a later date.
