Troy Gentry is a well-known American musical celebrity among the pre-millennial generation. He had a partner known as Eddie Montgomery and the two musicians began performing in the 1990s as two different bands. In 1999 they came together to found Montgomery Gentry. The two produced several hit albums featuring evergreen songs. Here is everything you need to know about the life and times of Troy Gentry, his wiki, his biography, his wife, his family, his daughter, his painful death and his funeral.
Troy Gentry Wiki, Bio
Troy Gentry was born to Patricia and Lloyd Gentry on April 5, 1967 in Lexington, Kentucky. He had siblings, a brother named Keith Gentry and a sister named Jana Gentry Eckhardt. Their family was happy because the children had their parents to themselves. Troy Gentry enrolled at the neighborhood’s Lexington Community College when he was slated to go to college, and then to the University of Kentucky after graduating.
Eddie, friend and musical partner of TroyMontgomery founded in 1990 the sensational group Early Tymz which had no equal at that time. The group Early Tymz counts among its members, his younger brother John Michael Montgomery and of course, Troy Gentry. The formation of this group did much to stimulate Troy’s musical interest and fuel his desire to become a great musician. However, the group was not to last forever or rather long as it disbanded a few years later.
Solo career
Troy Gentry went solo and continued performing for one day; It was during this acting solo performance that he decided to make the shortlist for the Jim Beam National Talent Competition in 1994. He went on to win the Best Performance award. This led him to open up for Patty Loveless and Tracy Byrd in hopes of continuing to be a solo artist and advancing his career. However, things did not go well for him as he was unable to secure a recording contract. He soon reunited with his longtime friend and former musical partner Eddie Montgomery to form a band called Deuce.
Deuce performed in local nightclubs and was quite famous among the locals then. They decided to rebrand the name to something that easily revealed the identity of the owners. So they chose Montgomery Gentry and then signed with Columbia Records in 1999. So what Troy Gentry couldn’t achieve as a solo artist, he collaborated with his former musical partner Eddie Montgomery.
Montgomery Gentry continued making music and releasing albums in 1999/2000 with the likes of Tattoos and Scars, Continuing in 2001/2002 to Rebels on the Run and Friends and Family in 2011/2012 and finally People like us in 2013/2015 which was unfortunately their penultimate album before the tragic death of Troy Gentry.
In November 2016, they re-signed record deals with Average Joes Entertainment after leaving Blaster Records. They were working on a new album to be released in 2017. They completed it before Troy’s death and it was released on September 8, 2017. The album is titled Here’s to You. Eddie Montgomery has expressed his desire to continue performing under the band name Montgomery Gentry.
Wife, family, daughter of Troy Gentry
Troy is no more than the family he left still alive. Troy Gentry married his wife Angie McClure in Maui Hawaii on December 14, 1999, at a time when everything was going perfectly well in his music career. Troy had a child from a previous marriage to a woman named Kai Gentry. It’s unclear when they officially divorced, but they had a daughter named Taylor Gentry. His child with Angie McClure was born in November 2002 and is named Kaylee Gentry. They took her name Kaylee from their two first names. Angie’s middle name is Kay, while Troy’s is Lee.
Death and funeral
Troy Gentry died at the age of 50 on October 8, 2017, at 1 p.m., in a helicopter crash that also claimed the life of the pilot. He was on a helicopter tour of Medford, New Jersey, where he and Eddie Montgomery were scheduled to perform later that evening when the accident happened. The pilot died at the crash site as Troy returned the ghost as he was taken to hospital.
The Montgomery Gentry Band announced their death on Twitter, they said with great sadness that Troy Gentry, one half of popular country duo Montgomery Gentry, was tragically killed in a helicopter crash in Medford, New Jersey.
On September 14, 2017, a well-attended public memorial service was held for Troy Gentry at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Troy Gentry is gone, but his music and his legacy live on.