Since making their debut with 1999's 'Tattoos & Scars,' Montgomery Gentry have notched five number one singles, three platinum albums, and two gold records.

And with their upcoming seventh release, 'Rebels on the Run,' they're looking to use some of the tumult and heartache of the last year to put them back on top of the charts.

"In a lot of ways the past year has been has been nothing but hell," admitted Eddie Montgomery in a recent interview with Taste of Country, reflecting on the months that found him battling prostate cancer and being served with divorce papers after 20 years of marriage. "Man, without [Troy Gentry] and my family, this music, our fans and the man upstairs, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through it."

"I don’t know if we would have made the same album if we hadn’t been through everything we’ve been through in the last year," added Gentry. "We’ve always tried to record songs about things we’ve lived or seen, but the depth of all of those experiences really comes out in this album."

According to Tom Baldrica, the president of Montgomery Gentry's new label, Average Joe's Entertainment, the duo needed to get back to its roots. "They had gotten away from the music that made people fall in love with them in the beginning," said Baldrica. "Eddie and Troy know their audience better than anyone, because they are their audience. That made it easy for them figure out what kind of songs they wanted on this album. They have also developed incredible relationships with the best songwriters in the business, which in turn helped them get the absolute best songs."

'Rebels on the Run' is scheduled to reach stores on October 4; its first single, 'Where I Come From,' is out now.

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