Jeff Cook, guitarist and co-founder of acclaimed country band Alabama, dies

Guitarist Jeff Cook, who co-founded the successful country group Alabama and steered it up the charts with such hits as “Song of the South” and “Dixieland Delight,” has died at 73.

Cook had Parkinson’s disease and disclosed his diagnosis in 2017. He died Tuesday at his home in Destin, Fla., said Don Murry Grubbs, a representative for the band.

Tributes poured in from country stars, including Travis Tritt, who called Cook “a great guy and one heckuva bass fisherman,” and Charlie Daniels, who tweeted that “Heaven gained another guitar/fiddle player today.”

As a guitarist, fiddle player and vocalist, Cook — alongside cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry — landed eight No. 1 songs on the country charts between spring 1980 and summer 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 Cook of Alabama in 2012.

(Mark Humphrey / Associated Press)

“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,” 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, that gave me the heart to chase this dream.”

The band had a three-year run as CMA Entertainer of the Year from 1982 to 1985 and earned five ACM Awards Entertainer of the Year trophies from 1981 to 1985. He stopped touring with Alabama in 2018.

Cook recorded a handful of solo projects and toured with his Allstar Goodtime Band. He also released collaborations with Daniels and “Star Trek” star William Shatner. He entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of Alabama.

His survivors include his wife, Lisa.