<\/p>\n
Country music legends Alabama gave fans an unexpected treat recently when they reunited with former drummer Matt Herndon<\/strong> \u2014 a moment that\u00a0hadn\u2019t\u00a0been seen\u00a0in over 20 years. The once-in-a-lifetime event took place on Saturday night, Aug. 23, during\u00a0Alabama\u2019s\u00a0sold-out headlining performance at the Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, Alabama.<\/p>\n Herndon\u2014who looked like a rockstar, sporting a pair of sunglasses, a cutoff shirt, and a red bandana\u2014joined his fellow bandmates onstage during\u00a0\u201cMountain Music,\u201d\u00a0which served as the final song of the night. The beloved classic country song was written by the\u00a0group\u2019s\u00a0lead singer, Randy Owen<\/strong>, and released in 1982, as the lead-off single from\u00a0Alabama’s sixth studio album of the same name.<\/p>\n A video of the\u00a0history-making\u00a0moment\u00a0was captured\u00a0by one fan and\u00a0made the rounds\u00a0on TikTok.\u00a0As shown in the clip,\u00a0Herndon\u2019s\u00a0inclusion was well-received by fans, who\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0help but scream and clap along as he busted out an epic drum solo ahead of the band playing the iconic crossover smash (which took the top spot on several charts, including\u00a0Billboard<\/em>\u2019s Hot Country Song Chart).<\/p>\n \u201cOh, play me some mountain music \/ Like grandma and grandpa used to play \/ Then\u00a0I’ll\u00a0float on down the river \/ To a Cajun hideaway<\/em>,\u201d\u00a0the band sang as confetti poured down onto the stage, making the moment a grand one for everyone in the room to remember.<\/p>\n \u201cTo a sold-out crowd in\u00a0Alabama\u2019s\u00a0home state, Herndon stepped behind the drum kit\u2026.The crowd roared as he took his seat, and the energy surged as the classic lineup came alive once again, transporting fans back to the\u00a0group\u2019s\u00a0heyday in the 1980s and 1990s when Alabama dominated the country charts,\u201d\u00a0a portion of the caption read alongside the clip.<\/p>\n Herndon played in Alabama for nearly three decades from 1979 to 2004, before exiting the group made up of fellow band mates and cousins, singer\/guitarist Owen, bassist \/backup singer Teddy Gentry<\/strong>, and the late Jeff Cook<\/strong>, who passed away in 2022 at the age of 73, due to complications of\u00a0Parkinson\u2019s\u00a0Disease.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u00a0felt like a little kid all day. It was so cathartic for everybody. I think it was on\u00a0God\u2019s\u00a0time, I really do. It was magic all over again,\u201d\u00a0Herndon said of the onstage reunion in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just fell together. The good Lord blesses us sometimes to do things that we\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0do.\u00a0All we can do is\u00a0kind of\u00a0be in the wings and kind of hope for things,\u201d\u00a0Gentry added.<\/p>\n While not with Herndon, Alabama still\u00a0plays\u00a0live shows and is currently on its Live in Concert 25 Tour, which runs\u00a0through Dec. 5. Fans can\u00a0get\u00a0the complete list of tour dates on the\u00a0band’s\u00a0official website, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Along with\u00a0\u201cMountain Music,\u201d\u00a0Alabama is known for a string of hits like\u00a0\u201cDixieland Delight,\u201d \u201cSong of the South,\u201d \u201cI\u2019min a Hurry,\u201d \u201cThe Closer You Get,\u201d \u201cBorn Country,\u201d \u201cAngels Among Us,\u201d\u00a0and others. The group\u00a0was inducted\u00a0into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005.<\/p>\n Related: \u201890s Country Icon Toby Keith’s Son Welcomes First Child With Sweet Photo: ‘Smiling Down From Heaven’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n This story was originally reported by Parade<\/a> on Aug 26, 2025, where it first appeared in the News<\/a> section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Country music legends Alabama gave fans an unexpected treat recently when they reunited with former drummer Matt Herndon \u2014 a moment that\u00a0hadn\u2019t\u00a0been seen\u00a0in over 20 years. The once-in-a-lifetime event took place on Saturday night, Aug. 23, during\u00a0Alabama\u2019s\u00a0sold-out headlining performance at the Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, Alabama. Herndon\u2014who looked like a rockstar, sporting a pair of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1979926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[313033,22846,342260,354846,354848,343486,354847],"class_list":["post-1979925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-alabama","tag-country-music","tag-huntsville","tag-matt-herndon","tag-mountain-music","tag-randy-owen","tag-teddy-gentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Iconic-\u201880s-Country-Band-Reunites-With-Drummer-for-the-First.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1979925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1979926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1979925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1979925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1979925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fans Were in for a Treat as Herndon Performed a Drum Solo<\/h2>\n
The Moment Proved Historic for Everyone in the Audience<\/h2>\n
Herndon Played Drums in Alabama for 25 Years Before Leaving the Iconic Group<\/h2>\n
Some of the Band Members Shared Their Joy Over the Reunion<\/h2>\n
Alabama Is Currently on Tour<\/h2>\n