Biography
Born in Danville, Kentucky on September 30, 1963, Eddie Montgomery helped steer Montgomery Gentry toward massive success in the 2000s by fusing vintage Southern rock with the expansive, hard-charging style of 1990s country. Five Billboard Country number ones arrived during that run—“If You Ever Stop Loving Me,” “Something to Be Proud Of,” “Lucky Man,” “Back When I Knew It All,” and “Roll with Me”—and the catalog they built kept the duo in rotation long after new singles tapered off in the following decade. Once Troy Gentry died in a 2017 helicopter crash, Eddie carried the Montgomery Gentry name forward on the road and eventually stepped out alone with the 2022 album Ain't No Closing Me Down, whose big guitars, beats, and feelings echoed the sound the pair had long championed.
He first sat behind a drum kit at thirteen inside the family group Harold Montgomery and the Kentucky River Express. That same closeness resurfaced in the early-’90s band Early Tymz, which included his brother John Michael Montgomery alongside Troy Gentry; after Early Tymz dissolved, the three musicians regrouped as Young Country. When John Michael Montgomery launched a solo career with the 1992 release Life's a Dance, Troy Gentry tried the same route but soon rejoined Eddie to launch Deuce. The pair had already adopted the name Montgomery Gentry by the time Columbia Nashville signed them.
The label issued “Hillbilly Shoes,” the opening single from Tattoos & Scars, in early 1999. Before the year ended, “Lonely and Gone” became their first Billboard Country top-ten entry, peaking at number five; that mark was topped in 2001 when “She Couldn't Change Me” climbed to number two, the lead track from Carrying On. Momentum built further with the 2002 album My Town and its three top-ten singles—“My Town,” “Speed,” and “Hell Yeah.” The first chart-topper arrived in 2004 with “If You Ever Stop Loving Me,” followed a year later by “Something to Be Proud Of,” both drawn from You Do Your Thing. Some People Change sustained the streak when “Lucky Man” hit number one in 2007, and Back When I Knew It All supplied consecutive leaders in its title track and “Roll with Me” during 2008.
After parting with Columbia Nashville, the duo landed at Average Joes Entertainment and released Rebels on the Run in 2011; that set contained their final Country number one, the rallying anthem “Where I Come From,” which reached eight that year. A move to Blaster Records produced 2015’s Folks Like Us. They returned to Average Joes in 2017 and were finishing another project when Troy Gentry perished; Eddie finished the record, retitled Here's to You as a tribute, and saw it arrive in February 2018.
He looked back at the duo’s history on the 2018 collection 20 Years of Hits, cutting fresh versions of earlier material that had been tracked while Gentry was still present, several of them joined by Brad Paisley, Jimmie Allen, and Darius Rucker. That same year Eddie entered the Kentucky Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2019 he closed the Montgomery Gentry chapter with Outskirts, an album of previously unheard tracks recorded with Gentry, and simultaneously issued the solo digital singles “Lucky Scars” and “Be a Cowboy (PBR Anthem).”
He kept touring under the Montgomery Gentry banner into the 2020s. His first solo album, Ain't No Closing Me Down, surfaced through an exclusive outlet in October 2021 before receiving wider distribution in January 2022. Later that year he co-wrote the children’s book Police Officers, Our Friends! with Randy Graham.
He first sat behind a drum kit at thirteen inside the family group Harold Montgomery and the Kentucky River Express. That same closeness resurfaced in the early-’90s band Early Tymz, which included his brother John Michael Montgomery alongside Troy Gentry; after Early Tymz dissolved, the three musicians regrouped as Young Country. When John Michael Montgomery launched a solo career with the 1992 release Life's a Dance, Troy Gentry tried the same route but soon rejoined Eddie to launch Deuce. The pair had already adopted the name Montgomery Gentry by the time Columbia Nashville signed them.
The label issued “Hillbilly Shoes,” the opening single from Tattoos & Scars, in early 1999. Before the year ended, “Lonely and Gone” became their first Billboard Country top-ten entry, peaking at number five; that mark was topped in 2001 when “She Couldn't Change Me” climbed to number two, the lead track from Carrying On. Momentum built further with the 2002 album My Town and its three top-ten singles—“My Town,” “Speed,” and “Hell Yeah.” The first chart-topper arrived in 2004 with “If You Ever Stop Loving Me,” followed a year later by “Something to Be Proud Of,” both drawn from You Do Your Thing. Some People Change sustained the streak when “Lucky Man” hit number one in 2007, and Back When I Knew It All supplied consecutive leaders in its title track and “Roll with Me” during 2008.
After parting with Columbia Nashville, the duo landed at Average Joes Entertainment and released Rebels on the Run in 2011; that set contained their final Country number one, the rallying anthem “Where I Come From,” which reached eight that year. A move to Blaster Records produced 2015’s Folks Like Us. They returned to Average Joes in 2017 and were finishing another project when Troy Gentry perished; Eddie finished the record, retitled Here's to You as a tribute, and saw it arrive in February 2018.
He looked back at the duo’s history on the 2018 collection 20 Years of Hits, cutting fresh versions of earlier material that had been tracked while Gentry was still present, several of them joined by Brad Paisley, Jimmie Allen, and Darius Rucker. That same year Eddie entered the Kentucky Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2019 he closed the Montgomery Gentry chapter with Outskirts, an album of previously unheard tracks recorded with Gentry, and simultaneously issued the solo digital singles “Lucky Scars” and “Be a Cowboy (PBR Anthem).”
He kept touring under the Montgomery Gentry banner into the 2020s. His first solo album, Ain't No Closing Me Down, surfaced through an exclusive outlet in October 2021 before receiving wider distribution in January 2022. Later that year he co-wrote the children’s book Police Officers, Our Friends! with Randy Graham.
Albums
Singles
