Troy Gentry was half of the popular American country duo, Montgomery Gentry. Eddie Montgomery was his partner. Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry began performing in the 1990s as part of two different bands with Montgomery's brother, John Michael Montgomery. Although Gentry won a talent contest in 1994, he reunited with Eddie Montgomery after Gentry was unable to find a solo record deal. Montgomery Gentry was formed in 1999. The duo was known for its Southern rock influences, and collaborated with Charlie Daniels, Toby Keith, Five for Fighting, and members of The Allman Brothers Band.

Montgomery Gentry released six studio albums for Columbia Records' Nashville division: Tattoos & Scars (1999), Carrying On (2001), My Town (2002), You Do Your Thing (2004), Some People Change (2006), and Back When I Knew It All (2008), and a Greatest Hits package. These albums produced more than twenty chart singles for the duo on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including the number 1 hits "If You Ever Stop Loving Me", "Something to Be Proud Of", "Lucky Man", "Back When I Knew It All", and "Roll with Me". Ten more of their songs reached the top 10 on the country charts, including the number 3 hit "Gone", the most played country song by a duo in 2005. Tattoos & Scars, My Town, and You Do Your Thing are all certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In 1999, they were awarded Favorite New Artist—Country at the American Music Awards. Both the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association named them Duo of the Year in 2000, an award for which they have been nominated by both associations in every year since. In 2009, they were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.

Troy Gentry was born on April 5, 1967, in Lexington, Kentucky, to Patricia (née Webb; 1942-2007) and Lloyd Gentry (1934-2017). He had a brother, Keith Gentry. Troy graduated from Lexington Community College and attended the University of Kentucky. Gentry married Angie McClure in 1999. They had a child, Kaylee, who was born in November 2002. He also had a child, Taylor, from a previous marriage.

In 2004, Gentry purchased a black bear named "Cubby" from a facility called the Minnesota Wildlife Connection and subsequently shot the bear from inside an electrified enclosure, a practice commonly known as "canned hunting". On November 27, 2006, Gentry pleaded guilty to a charge of falsely tagging a bear that was killed in a fenced enclosure as if it had been killed in the wild. Under the plea agreement, he agreed to pay a $15,000 fine, give up hunting, fishing and trapping in Minnesota for 5 years and forfeit Cubby's taxidermied remains and the bow he used to shoot Cubby. In a statement that he posted on the duo's website on November 9, 2010, he apologized for his actions as well as the unethical manner in which he killed Cubby.

On September 8, 2017, Gentry died in a helicopter crash while en route to a New Jersey concert venue, where the duo was set to perform. On Twitter, the band released the following statement: "It is with great sadness that we confirm that Troy Gentry, half of the popular country duo, Montgomery Gentry, was tragically killed in a helicopter crash which took place at approximately 1:00 p.m. today in Medford, New Jersey." On September 14, 2017, a public memorial service for Gentry was held at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Gentry