Scotty McCreery Presents Randy Owen & Teddy Gentry with plaque commemorating two billion streams

Iconic country rock group Alabama was surprised with a major honor last weekend. On Friday, December 9th at the Berglund Center Coliseum in Roanoke, VA, Alabama founding members Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry were interrupted mid-show by opening act Scotty McCreery who presented them with the Pandora Billionaire plaque. The honor commemorates over two billion Alabama streams on the streaming service.

“The Pandora plaque was a nice surprise,” says Gentry. “We thought a million plays was a very big deal but two billion plays of our songs puts it over the top. We appreciate Pandora and thanks for the award.”

“We are so thankful to our fans and listeners for playing our music for over 50 years,” adds Owen. “Two billion is a big number. That means they like our music and want to hear it again and again. Thank you Pandora for the award.”

McCreery, a previous recipient of the Pandora Billionaire plaque, was thrilled to make the presentation. “I’ve been a fan of Alabama all my life,” he explains. “It was an honor to open for them in Roanoke and then present the Pandora Billionaire plaque to Randy and Teddy later that night. It doesn’t get better than Alabama.”

The music of Alabama will now be played on Pandora’s Country Billionaires station.

The accolade comes a month after founding member Jeff Cook passed away after a long battle with Parkinson’s. More than five decades ago, Cook, along with Gentry and Owen, left Fort Payne to spend the summer playing music in a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina bar called The Bowery. It took Cook, Gentry and Owen six long years of tip jars and word-of-mouth to earn the major label deal they’d been dreaming of. Then, seemingly no time at all to change the face of country music forever. Cook’s iconic guitar licks, unique fiddle style, exceptional vocals and harmony, along with his bandmates, went on to sell 80 million albums and charted 43 No. 1 hits, becoming the biggest group in the history of the country genre.