Watch Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan Honor Alabama’s Randy Owen with Racous “Mountain Music” Duet at BMI Awards

Alabama’s Randy Owen didn’t want to cry Tuesday night. But he did.

A couple of hours before BMI honored him with its prestigious Icon Award at its BMI Country Awards on Music Row, Alabama’s lead singer told American Songwriter that the award was deeply meaningful to him.

“I’m very lucky to have written some songs that are hits,” Owen said before the show. “Some of my favorite songs we never even recorded because I wrote them for my wife. I’m very grateful to BMI, and tonight is the night I get to have some fun.”

BMI bestows the Icon Award on songwriters who have indelibly influenced music makers over generations.

Alabama charted 43 No. 1 hits, most of which Owen wrote. Singer/songwriter Travis Denning explained that Owen’s most significant achievement as a songwriter is staying authentic to himself.

“Alabama writes Alabama songs,” Denning said. “Alabama sang about Alabama and The Tennessee River and Fort Payne and didn’t give a damn that someone in Colorado might not be able to relate to it. They wrote their truth. They were a band. They recorded it that way. And because of that, they made impeccable, amazing music and had 43 No. 1 songs. There hasn’t been anyone like them since, and it’s what every new artist should do.”

Randy Owen: “Tonight is the Night I Get to Have Some Fun”

Owen said he didn’t know what he was professionally doing in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when pulling many of the band’s biggest hit songs together. He did know he was being true to himself.

“If you write where you are in life and what’s in your head and what’s in your heart, people can tell. You can go out and play your guitar live, and you’ve got heroes like Charlie Daniels and Marshall Tucker who inspire you every day that you listen to their music … I’m trying not to get too emotional. Where the emotion comes in is when you write the songs. When you hear a song that you write sung by somebody else, you can’t describe that feeling.”

As he predicted, Owen wiped away tears during the musical tribute portion of his Icon Award presentation. Riley Green stunned the audience with an emotional version of “My Home’s In Alabama” that had Owen openly crying by the end of it.

Luke Bryan lifted the mood, hopping on stage and lightheartedly pointing out Owen’s children and grandchildren in the audience. Then he commented that while he was in the best country band of all time, had Owen been solo, he would have had about 15 Male Vocalist of the Year trophies on his mantel.

“The best country band of all time had one of the best singers of all time and had one of the best human beings of all time,” Bryan said. Owen founded Country Cares for St. Jude Kids®, one of the most successful fundraising campaigns in radio history that collected more than $1 billion from the country community for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Luke Bryan Calls Randy Owen and Inspiration

Bryan said Owen’s philanthropy inspired him and his family to do the same. Just a few weeks ago, Owen and his wife participated in a fundraiser that Bryan and his family hosted.

Bryan sang “Feels So Right” for Owen. Then Blake Shelton hopped on stage and told the crowd of country music’s elite that Owen deserved to hear them sing every word of the next song.

Shelton tore into a rousing version of Alabama’s “Mountain Music.” Bryan energetically hopped on stage, too. Bryan was so excited that he ran over and hugged Shelton mid-performance and tried to walk away, but Shelton grabbed the back of his jacket. Bryan took the microphone for the first line of the second verse. He pumped his fist in the air and clapped his hands over his head as Owen does during the song. They continued the song like best friends and country music brothers who respect that country music wouldn’t be the same without Owen and Alabama.

Shelton and Bryan hugged and danced during the iconic fiddle solo at the end, and Shelton mimicked bowing down to Owen at the end of the song.

Owen’s wife, Kelly, remembered Owen waking her up in the middle of the night to jot down the lyrics for “Mountain Music” as he was thinking them up.

Randy Owen’s Wife Remembers How “Mountain Music” Changed Their Life

“I just got the baby down from nursing, and you want me to write this on a piece of paper?” she said, feigning irritation. “Little did I know what song was coming out of that. I can literally say a song can change a person’s life.”

Owen stepped on stage to thunderous applause and credited his bandmates Teddy Gentry, Jeff Cook, and their producer Harold Shedd.

“I want to thank BMI for the call,” Owen said. “When you all called me and said the Icon Award, I cried. It’s so special.

Past BMI Icon Award winners include Toby Keith, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Dean Dillon, Hank Williams, Jr., Bill Anderson and Vince Gill.