Alabama

Alabama's members are lead singer, rhythm guitarist and songwriter Randy Owen; his cousin, bass player, songwriter and harmony vocalist Teddy Gentry; their distant cousin, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Jeff Cook; and drummer Mark Herndon. Owen, Gentry and Cook became professional musicians in 1973, taking up residence in a honky-tonk called The Bowery in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

There the band sometimes played for 13 hours a day, going through three drummers during the next six years. To survive, they not only played all the time, they played a little of everything -- rock, country, pop, dance music, r&b, whatever.

Alabama's string of No. 1 hits began in the summer of 1980 with Owen's song "Tennessee River." Its success made Alabama the first country group to top the chart with its first major-label release. The ballad "Why Lady Why" topped the charts as 1980 drew to a close. Then "Old Flame" followed suit. By the touring season of 1981, Alabama had three straight No. 1s. The members' long hair, dynamic onstage antics and country-rock sound made it the hottest "youth appeal" act on the country scene.

In 1998, the band was honored with its own star in the fabled Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2000, it was presented with the Minnie Pearl Humanitarian Award. The band announced its farewell tour during the Academy of Country Music awards in 2002, and spent most of 2003 saying good-bye to the fans.

In 2005, they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The following year, they notched a No. 1 country album, Songs of Inspiration.