Legendary country rock group ALABAMA was given the surprise of a lifetime when they accepted a major honor: the Pandora Billionaire plaque!
On Friday, December 9, ALABAMA founding members Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry were stopped mid-show at Roanoke, VA’s Berglund Center Coliseum by opening act Scotty McCreery. McCreery did the honors of presenting the group with the coveted award that celebrates the more than two billion streams ALABAMA has garnered on the streaming service.
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“The Pandora plaque was a nice surprise,” said Gentry. “We thought a million plays was a very big deal, but two billion plays of our songs puts it over the top. We appreciate Pandora, and thanks for the award.”
“We are so thankful to our fans and listeners for playing our music for over 50 years,” added Owen. “Two billion is a big number. That means they like our music and want to hear it again and again. Thank you, Pandora, for the award.”
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McCreery, a previous recipient of Pandora’s Billionaire plaque, was elated to make the presentation. “I’ve been a fan of ALABAMA all my life,” he shared. “It was an honor to open for them in Roanoke and then present the Pandora Billionaire plaque to Randy and Teddy later that night. It doesn’t get better than ALABAMA.”
ALABAMA’s music is now playing on Pandora’s Country Billionaires station.
While ALABAMA continues to receive great honors such as the Pandora Billionaire plaque, the beloved country group faced a great challenge as they lost member Jeff Cook on November 8 of this year. As a member of ALABAMA, Cook enjoyed one of the most successful careers in country music history.
Over 50 years ago, Cook, along with cousins Teddy Gentry and Randy Owen, left Fort Payne to spend the summer playing music in a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina bar called The Bowery. It took Cook, Gentry and Owen six long years of tip jars and word-of-mouth to earn the major label deal they’d been dreaming of. Then, seemingly no time at all to change the face of country music forever. Cook’s iconic guitar licks, unique fiddle style, exceptional vocals and harmony, along with his bandmates, went on to sell 80 million albums and charted 43 No. 1 hits, becoming the biggest group in the history of the country genre.
Due to Cook’s health battle, he ceased touring with ALABAMA in 2018. With his encouragement and well wishes, ALABAMA went on because Cook never wanted “the music to stop or the party to end.”
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The band is set to take the stage alongside some of country’s biggest acts including Dan + Shay, Old Dominion, Chris Young, Gabby Barrett, Jake Owen and more for the Voices of America Country Music Fest 2023 at West Chester, OH’s Voice of America Park on August 11 to 13.
Fans can also catch the Country Music Hall of Famers on the road for their Roll On 2 North America Tour on the dates below.
Roll On 2 North America Tour Dates
Feb. 17 — Bossier City, LA — Brookshire Grocery Arena
Feb. 24 — New Orleans, LA — The Smoothie King Center
April. 1 — Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena