An empty microphone stand stands silent on the stage each night – a ghostly presence that points to where Troy Gentry once performed. For Eddie Montgomery, that stand is not a prop but a promise.
When Montgomery Gentry formed in 1999, the duo brought raw honky-tonk and Southern rock to country music. Eddie and Troy climbed from Kentucky barrooms to national fame, earning CMA and ACM Duo of the Year awards. In 2009 they joined the Grand Ole Opry, a crowning achievement for the two friends.
Then tragedy struck. On September 8, 2017, a helicopter crash in New Jersey claimed Troy’s life just hours before a show. The loss came two years after Eddie’s 19-year-old son Hunter died. The stage suddenly looked empty.
Eddie could have walked away. Instead he chose to finish what they started. He completed the album Here’s to You, which they had been recording together. In 2022 he released his solo project Ain’t No Closing Me Down, but he never left the Montgomery Gentry name behind.
He views touring not as a solo act but as a mission to keep his friend’s memory alive.
Today if you attend a Montgomery Gentry show, you will hear Eddie’s booming baritone voice. And you will see that empty microphone stand, placed right where Troy used to stand. The music continues, and Eddie makes sure his brother is still part of every song.