Montgomery Gentry rose to prominence in country music through a combination of hit records and energetic live performances. Kentucky natives Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry played together in some early bands, and formed a duo together called Deuce, which changed its name to Montgomery Gentry and signed with Columbia Records in Nashville in 1999. Their 1999 debut album yielded five singles, including a Top 5 in "Lonely and Gone." The duo went on to score a slew of hit singles in the early 2000s, mingling country and rock influences, including "My Town," "Speed," "Gone" and "Some People Change." The duo won ACM and CMA Awards and were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. In 2017, Gentry was killed in a helicopter crash in New Jersey, and the duo released a posthumous song called "Better Me." They had been working on a 2018 album, but that hangs in the balance — the future of Montgomery Gentry is unclear.