by Karen Mehall Phillips - Thursday, September 14, 2017
This week the country music world and NRA Country are mourning the passing of country music artist, hunter and avid outdoorsman Troy Gentry, 50, who perished in a helicopter accident with pilot James Evan Robinson, 30, in New Jersey on Friday, Sept. 8.
As reported by AmericanRifleman.org, Gentry, along with Eddie Montgomery, was half of the award-winning country music duo Montgomery Gentry. Beginning with their 1999 debut “Hillbilly Shoes,” the 2000 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year winners produced multiple hits on the Billboard Country Singles chart. In the years that followed, they earned recognition from the Academy of Country Music and the American Music Awards and were Grammy Award nominees. They scored the first of five No. 1 singles in 2004 with “If You Ever Stop Loving Me." Their 2008 anthem “Some People Change” even earned the duo an unlikely fan in renowned poet Maya Angelou, who was struck by the song's message of personal evolution in one's beliefs and thought process. Quick to offer to perform at benefit concerts, they released their most recent album, “Folks Like Us,” in June of 2015, the same year the “Bluegrass State” natives were fittingly inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame.
In an official statement, Gentry’s family acknowledged all of the kind thoughts and prayers. A public celebration of Troy’s life is scheduled for today, Sept. 14, at 11 a.m. (CT) at the Grand Ole Opry. Fans are invited to attend, and those unable to make the trip can watch the tribute via live stream.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the TJ Martell Foundation, the music industry’s leading foundation that funds medical research and treatments and cures for cancer, or the American Red Cross for hurricane relief.