Jeff Cooke, the guitarist who co-founded the country group Alabama and propelled the charts with hits like “Song of the South” and “Dixieland Delight,” has died. He was 73 years old.
Cook had Parkinson’s disease and revealed his diagnosis in 2017. He died Tuesday at his home in Destin, Florida, band representative Don Murry Grubbs said.
Tributes poured in from country stars including Travis Tritt, who called Cook “a great guy and a heckuva bass fisherman” and Jason Aldean, who tweeted: “I had the opportunity to perform with him many times and I’ll never forget it.” Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, added: “Everything he did was based on his deep love for music, a love he shared with millions.”
As a guitarist, fiddle player, and singer, Cook — along with cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry — scored eight No. 1 songs on the country chart between the spring of 1980 and the summer of 1982, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame. That run included the pop crossover hits “Love in the First Degree” and “Feels So Right,” as well as “Tennessee River” and “Mountain Music.”
“Jeff Cooke, and all the guys from Alabama, were so generous with wisdom and fun when I toured with them as a young artist,” Kenny Chesney 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, it gave me the heart to follow this dream.
The band had a three-year run as CMA Entertainer of the Year from 1982-1985 and earned five ACM Awards Entertainer of the Year trophies from 1981-1985. He left to visit Alabama in 2018.
Cook released a handful of solo projects and toured with his all-star Goodtime Band. He also released collaborations with Charlie Daniels and “Star Trek” star William Shatner. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of Alabama.
A song he co-wrote in 2015, “No Bad Days,” took on new meaning after his diagnosis. “After I got diagnosed with Parkinson’s, people would quote the song to me and say, ‘No bad days,'” Cook told The Tennessean in 2019. “They write me letters, notes, and emails and they sign ‘No Bad Days.’ I know the support is there.”
Survivors include his wife, Lisa.