Jeff Cook, Alabama Co-Founder and Guitarist, Dies After Lengthy Parkinson’s Battle

Jeff Cook, the country music legend who co-founded the band Alabama, died Monday after a decade-long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 73.

A representative from the band confirmed his death to The Tennessean on Tuesday, adding that Cook died surrounded by family members at his beachside home in Destin, Florida.

Along with cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry, Alabama changed the face of country music in the 1970s and ‘80s, and sold more than 80 million albums.

The group amassed more than 40 No. 1 hits, including “She and I,” “Mountain Music” and “Tennessee River.”

Cook was Alabama’s lead guitarist for more than five decades, but would also regularly play the fiddle, keyboard and sing backup vocals to the band’s smooth melodies.

A native of Fort Payne, Alabama, he began chasing a career in music as a disc jockey in his hometown in 1969. From there, he co-founded the band Young Country alongside Owen and Gentry, which planted the seeds for Alabama to be formed in 1977.

Already inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Cook and Alabama played together up until his final days, when the star eventually conceded his body wasn’t allowing him to perform the way he used to.

Cook was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2012, but kept the diagnosis under wraps from the public until 2017. His appearances with the group became less frequent, with Cook telling Alabama TV station News 19 in 2017: “I’m not calling it quits, but sometimes our bodies dictate what we have to do, and mine is telling me it’s time to take a break and heal.”

Social media was flooded with tributes once Cook’s death became public on Tuesday afternoon. Jason Aldean, a country star in his own right, said Cook and Alabama had an iconic sound he'll never forget.

“I spent a lot of my life listening to him play guitar, what an iconic sound he had,” Aldean tweeted Tuesday. “I got a chance to perform with him multiple times over the years and I will never forget it.”

Another country star, Travis Tritt, posted a tribute of his own.

“Such a great guy and one heckuva bass fisherman,” Tritt posted. “He will be truly missed.”