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American country music duo

Montgomery Gentry is an American country music duo founded by singers Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, both Kentucky natives. They began performing together in the 1990s as part of two different bands with Montgomery's brother, John Michael Montgomery. Although Gentry won a talent contest in 1994, he reunited with Eddie Montgomery after Gentry was unable to find a solo record deal, and Montgomery Gentry was formed in 1999. The duo is known for its Southern rock influences, and has collaborated with Charlie Daniels, Toby Keith, Five for Fighting, and members of The Allman Brothers Band. Montgomery Gentry released six studio albums for Columbia Records' Nashville division: Tattoos & Scars (1999), Carrying On (2001), My Town (2002), You Do Your Thing (2004), Some People Change (2006), and Back When I Knew It All (2008), and a Greatest Hits package. These albums produced more than twenty chart singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, including the No. (Number) 1 hits, "If You Ever Stop Loving Me", "Something to Be Proud Of", "Lucky Man", "Back When I Knew It All", and "Roll with Me". Ten more of their songs reached the Top 10 on the country chart, including the No. (Number) 3 hit, "Gone", the most played country song by a duo in 2005. Tattoos & Scars, My Town, and You Do Your Thing are all certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In 1999, they were awarded Favorite New Artist—Country at the American Music Awards. Both the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association named them Duo of the Year in 2000, awards for which they were nominated by one or both associations in every year until 2012. In 2009, they were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. On September 8, 2017, Gentry died in a helicopter crash in Medford, New Jersey, where the duo was scheduled to perform that evening. The helicopter pilot died at the scene and Gentry died as he was being rushed to the hospital. Despite Gentry's death, Montgomery continues to tour under the Montgomery Gentry name and has pursued a solo career.

Gerald Edward Montgomery was born September 30, 1963, in Danville, Kentucky. Troy Lee Gentry (April 5, 1967 – September 8, 2017) was born in Lexington, Kentucky. When Montgomery was 13 years old, he played drums in his parents' band, Harold Montgomery and the Kentucky River Express. In 1990, Montgomery founded the band Early Tymz, which included his younger brother, John Michael Montgomery, and Troy Gentry. After Early Tymz disbanded, the Montgomery brothers and Gentry briefly performed as Young Country, with John Michael as lead vocalist. John Michael left for a solo career in the early 1990s. Gentry initially wanted to pursue a solo career, but after he was unable to find a record deal, he reunited with Eddie Montgomery to form a duo called Deuce, which played at local nightclubs. peaking at number 13 on the country charts and 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. After it, Montgomery Gentry charted the number 31 singles "Self Made Man" and "All Night Long". The latter, which featured guest vocals from Charlie Daniels, was previously the b side to "Hillbilly Shoes". The duo won the Vocal Duo of the Year award at the Country Music Association Awards in late 2000, the first time in eight years that Brooks & Dunn did not win this award. The album received generally positive reviews for the duo's Southern rock influences. Thom Jurek of Allmusic gave it four stars out of five, calling it "one of the best pop records of the year. Period." and Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly rated it "B", saying that the album was "testosterone laden". In comparison, Country Standard Time reviewer Jeffrey B. Remz thought that many of the duo's songs lacked distinctiveness, saying that they seemed to be derivative of Daniels and Travis Tritt.

Montgomery Gentry's second album, Carrying On, was released in mid 2001. Lead off single "She Couldn't Change Me" peaked at number 2 on the country charts and number 37 on the Hot 100, making their first Top 40 entry there. The album's only other single, "Cold One Comin' On", reached number 23 on the country charts. Later in 2002, they toured with Kenny Chesney on his No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems tour. and Country Standard Times Mike Clark thought that the duo was "playing it safe", although he described the singles favorably. The album was certified gold for shipments of 500,000 copies. They also chose songs co written by songwriters who had not appeared on their previous albums, including Jeffrey Steele and Rivers Rutherford. The album produced three singles, all co written by Steele: the title track and "Speed" both at number 5, and "Hell Yeah" at number 4. In March 2004, My Town became the duo's second platinum certified album. and "Speed" for being "slower and more deliberate than the recklessness the title suggests". On Country Standard Time, Tom Netherland called it "their third and finest release".

You Do Your Thing, their fourth album, was issued in mid 2004. "Gone" was also the most played single by a country music duo in 2005, In October 2005, You Do Your Thing became the duo's third platinum album. Jurek wrote that it "is easily the finest outing by modern country's most relevant duo; it rocks, it's soulful, and it's memorable". Montgomery Gentry toured in late 2004 – early 2005 with Trace Adkins in support of the album. "Something to Be Proud Of" also served as the title track to Montgomery Gentry's first greatest hits album, Something to Be Proud Of: The Best of 1999–2005. Also included on this disc were "Didn't I", "Merry Christmas from the Family" and the new song "She Don't Tell Me To" (also co written by Rutherford, Shapiro, and DiPiero), which peaked at number 5 on the country charts in early 2006. Gentry told the Edmonton Sun that Some People Change "is based more on family issues, the love of the family, the love of neighbors, relationships", and said that the title track "is about being able to challenge your inner demons and the things that can bring people down, alcoholism, or hatred or racism." Montgomery Gentry's version of the song peaked at number 7, followed by the two week number 1 hit "Lucky Man" and the number 3 "What Do Ya Think About That". Some People Change was Montgomery Gentry's lowest selling album at the time. Joe Galante, then president of Sony Music Nashville, thought that the album's poor sales were because it "strayed musically from what the base had been. They have an edge to their sound, and I think we got a little too soft." Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times gave a mixed review, saying that it was more "touchy feely" than You Do Your Thing, and that "no one works a snarling country chorus like Montgomery Gentry". Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a "C", criticizing the duo for the contradictory viewpoints of personal changes on the title track versus the "defense of the American right to piss off your neighbors" in "What Do Ya Think About That". Jurek comparatively called it a "masterpiece" and said that it was "a new pinnacle for the duo", calling the title track "one of those tunes that defines something that lies at the heart of what is good about Americans."

In 2008, the duo went to the Ardent studios in Memphis, Tennessee, to record their sixth album, Back When I Knew It All. Once again, they worked with Blake Chancey as producer. went to number 1. "One in Every Crowd", co written by Montgomery with Kim Tribble and former Trick Pony bassist Ira Dean, was issued in January 2009 as the third single. By the middle of the year, this song peaked at number 5. The fourth single, the number 23 "Long Line of Losers", was co written and previously recorded by Kevin Fowler. Toby Keith, with whom Montgomery Gentry toured in mid 2008, contributed a guest vocal on the Terri Clark co write "I Pick My Parties", Thom Jurek wrote of this album, "The hardcore fans will love it, but this isn't the album that will win over many new ones." On May 26, 2009, Montgomery Gentry was formally invited by Charlie Daniels to become members of the Grand Ole Opry. Marty Stuart and Little Jimmy Dickens inducted them on June 23. Also in May 2009, Cracker Barrel restaurants released an exclusive compilation titled For Our Heroes, which included some of their hits along with "Didn't I" and three other songs which had previously been released only as bonus tracks. The restaurant chain donated a portion of all profits from the album to the Wounded Warrior Project.

On November 30, 2009, Montgomery Gentry released the single "Oughta Be More Songs About That". It was to have been included on an album titled Freedom, which was to have included a song that the two wrote with Gary Hannan and Phil O'Donnell titled "Freedom Never Goes Out of Style". The label scrapped Freedom and instead chose to release an extended play titled Hits and More: Life Beside a Gravel Road, which would have included past hits and three new songs. Its first single, "While You're Still Young", peaked at number 32 in mid 2010. On September 17, 2010, a day before the extended play's slated release, Montgomery Gentry exited the label, Their first release for the label, "Where I Come From", appears on their seventh album Rebels on the Run, released on October 18. The album was produced by Michael Knox, who also produces for Jason Aldean. Jurek thought that the album was "the most consistent offering" since Some People Change "even if it doesn't quite scale those heights", and Country Weekly reviewer Jessica Nicholson called it "classic Montgomery Gentry". In early 2012, "Where I Come From" peaked at number 8 on the country charts. It was followed by "So Called Life", which failed to make Top 40. On October 23, 2012, the duo released a digital only EP titled Friends and Family. The EP contains four tracks, including "I'll Keep the Kids", which was released as a single.

The duo spent the better part of 2012 and 2013 touring. They signed to Blaster Records in February 2014 and announced that a new album, to be produced by Michael Knox, would be released within the year. However, the album's lead single, titled "Headlights", did not perform as expected on the charts, peaking at number 44 on Country Airplay. As a result, the album's release was delayed. The album's second single "Folks Like Us", was released to country radio in March 2015. Folks Like Us was released on June 9, 2015.

In November 2016, the duo left Blaster Records and re signed with Average Joes Entertainment. They began working on a new album, then slated for a 2017 release. Following Gentry's death on September 8, 2017, the label announced that the duo had completed their new album prior to the fatal helicopter crash. "Better Me", the lead single, was released on September 15, 2017. In November 2017, the album's title Here's to You was announced, as was its release date of February 2, 2018. Montgomery has confirmed that he will continue the Montgomery Gentry name as a solo act due to Gentry's death and he plans to tour in 2018 in support of the new album. On November 16, Average Joes issued the new compilation 20 Years of Hits, which includes new re recordings of the duo's biggest hits that were completed before Gentry's death. This was followed in 2019 by the studio album Outskirts, a seven song compilation recorded a week prior to Gentry's death. Produced by Noah Gordon and Shannon Houchins, the album includes a cover of Merle Haggard's 1983 hit "What Am I Gonna Do (With the Rest of My Life)" and Darrell Scott's "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive". Later in the year, the label released a deluxe version with additional songs. At the time of the album's release, Montgomery said that he planned to continue touring under the Montgomery Gentry name even after Gentry's death, and that he wanted to honor Gentry by releasing songs that they had worked on prior. On October 29, 2021, Montgomery released his first studio album as a solo artist titled Ain't No Closing Me Down via Average Joes Entertainment label. The album features two singles "Alive And Well" and "My Son". While maintaining his solo career, Montgomery has also continued to tour with the backing band under the Montgomery Gentry name.

Montgomery Gentry's sound was defined by Southern rock influences. Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote that the duo "evokes the sound and spirit of Southern rockers like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Marshall Tucker Band, and Charlie Daniels, painting themselves as rowdy redneck rebels who still hold small town values." Montgomery and Gentry alternated as lead vocalists, with Gentry often accompanying on acoustic guitar. Many of the duo's mid tempo songs, such as "My Town", centralized on a theme of rural lifestyles. The cancer was successfully removed a month later. The same month, his wife, Tracy Nunan Montgomery, announced their divorce, Montgomery posted to Twitter and Facebook that she divorced him because she did not want to "cope with his illness," but she subsequently denied it. Montgomery subsequently married his longtime girlfriend, Jennifer Belcher, in 2014. On September 27, 2015, Montgomery wrote that his and ex wife Tracy Nunan's 19 year old son, Hunter, had been killed in an accident. Nunan subsequently clarified that Hunter died of an overdose, which she believed was accidental. Gentry married Angie McClure in 1999. They had a child, Kaylee, who was born in November 2002. He also had a child, Taylor, from a previous marriage. In 2004, Gentry purchased a black bear named "Cubby" from a facility called the Minnesota Wildlife Connection and subsequently shot the bear from inside an electrified enclosure, a practice commonly known as canned hunting. On November 27, 2006, Gentry pleaded guilty to a charge of falsely tagging a bear that was killed in a fenced enclosure as if it had been killed in the wild. Under the plea agreement, he agreed to pay a $15,000 fine; give up hunting, fishing, and trapping in Minnesota for five years; and forfeit Cubby's taxidermied remains and the bow he used to shoot Cubby. In a statement that he posted on the duo's website on November 9, 2010, he apologized for his actions as well as the unethical manner in which he killed Cubby. On September 8, 2017, Gentry died in a helicopter crash while taking a helicopter tour of Medford, New Jersey, where he and Montgomery were set to perform that evening. Through social media, the band released the following statement: "It is with great sadness that we confirm that Troy Gentry, half of the popular country duo, Montgomery Gentry, was tragically killed in a helicopter crash which took place at approximately 1:00 p. m. today in Medford, New Jersey." On September 14, 2017, a public memorial service for Gentry was held at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. On November 5, 2018, the final National Transportation Safety Board report was issued, with the accident being primarily attributed to the pilot's "failure to maintain rotor rpm which resulted in an uncontrolled descent."