You didn’t think Alabama would forget its home state, did you?
The country band’s 50th anniversary tour will include two shows in Alabama, promoter Red Mountain Entertainment announced today.
Alabama is set to perform on Oct. 4 in Birmingham, at the Legacy Arena at the BJCC, and on May 9 in Orange Beach, at The Wharf Amphitheater. Show time is 7 p.m. in Birmingham, 7:30 p.m. in Orange Beach. The Charlie Daniels Band will be the opening act at both concerts.
Ticket prices are $41.75-$131.75 in Birmingham, $25-$89.50 in Orange Beach, plus service charges, according to Red Mountain Entertainment. Tickets for both shows will go on sale Friday, Jan. 25, at 10 a.m. CT through Ticketmaster, after a round of pre-sales.
In December, Alabama announced an initial run of about 30 dates for the tour, but no stops here were included. Ticket prices for those shows vary in each city, but a check on Ticketmaster revealed prices ranging from about $45 to $250 at most shows, including platinum seats.
Alabama was formed in 1969 in Fort Payne as Wildcountry by singer Randy Owen, bassist Teddy Gentry and guitarist and fiddler Jeff Cook. The band changed its name to Alabama in 1977 and became one of the most successful groups in country music, peaking in the 1980s with multiplatinum albums and a slew of radio hits that included “Tennessee River,” “Mountain Music,” “Dixieland Delight,” “The Closer You Get,” “Song of the South,” “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)” and many more.
The band continued to record and perform regularly until the early 2000s, playing to a devoted fan base. Alabama traveled on a high-profile farewell tour in 2003-2004, but returned to the stage several times over the years. One of the most notable shows was the 2011 Bama Rising benefit concert at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham. Alabama headlined the star-studded event, raising about $2.2 million for tornado relief in its home state.
Alabama reunited for a “Back to the Bowery” tour in 2013 and released a new album, “Southern Drawl,” two years later.
Cook, who has Parkinson’s disease, will perform on the new tour as much as he’s physically able, a publicist said.
Cook, 69, revealed in 2017 that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a disorder of the nervous system that affects movement. The disease is progressive and can’t be cured, although symptoms can be controlled with medication.
Since that time, Alabama has toured without Cook, but Owen and Gentry made it clear that he’ll always have a place on stage with the band.
“We could hire 10 people, but we can’t replace Jeff Cook in the group Alabama,” Gentry told The Tennessean.