Alabama on Jeff Cook: ‘We Miss Him Like You Can’t Imagine’

Alabama will appear on television a man down Thursday night (Aug. 15). CMT Giants: Alabama is an all-star tribute to the group that includes a performance from Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry.

Jeff Cook died in November 2022 after battling Parkinson's disease. He'd retired from the group several years earlier, but that didn't soften the blow for the trio's remaining members and their fans.

"It's like your right arm being gone," Teddy Gentry tells Taste of Country.

• CMT Giants has been celebrating the best in country music since 2006.
• Vince Gill, Charley Pride, Kenny Rogers and Alan Jackson are a few artists who've been featured.
• CMT Giants: Alabama was filmed at Belmont University's Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville.

Related: 15 Country Legends Who Deserve to Be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

"All the years we spent putting things together — but we've got a good bunch of supporting cast that makes us still sound good."

Look for the group to close the show with "Mountain Music" and "My Home's in Alabama." A lineup featuring Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Old Dominion, Sam Hunt, and Jamey Johnson will do their best to do right by the Country Music Hall of Fame members.

Still, there is a hole on the stage, which Gentry says is still weird.

"But we're doing what Jeff wanted to do," he shares. "He wanted the music to go on and the music to not stop playing. And of course, we miss him like you can't imagine."

CMT Giants: Alabama was filmed at Belmont University in January. The show begins on CMT at 7PM CT.

Billy Dukes is a Senior Editor and Executive Producer of Video Content at Taste of Country. He specializes in country music interviews, trend analysis and the Secret History of Country Music. Additionally, Billy covers Yellowstone, 1923 and related television shows through the Dutton Rules podcast. To date, he's written more than 13,000 articles for Taste of Country and produced over 3,000 videos for the Taste of Country YouTube channel.