{"id":2107070,"date":"2026-08-22T22:27:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T19:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2107070"},"modified":"2026-08-22T22:27:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T19:27:39","slug":"dale-morris-nashville-manager-who-guided-careers-of-alabama-kenny-chesney-dies-at-89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2107070","title":{"rendered":"Dale Morris, Nashville Manager Who Guided Careers of Alabama & Kenny Chesney, Dies at 89"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dale-morris-country-music-hall-2016-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\tDale Morris, the legendary Nashville artist manager who helped build the superstar careers of Alabama and Kenny Chesney, has died. He was 89.<\/p>\n

\n\tMorris died peacefully in his sleep Friday night (Aug. 21), his representatives said. A specific cause of death was not provided.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Bonnie<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tGone But Not Forgotten: Musicians We Lost in\u00a02026\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Kenny<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tParadigm Adds Kenny Chesney & Old Dominion to Roster Following Acquisition of Morris Higham\u2019s Booking\u00a0Biz\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Dale<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tManagement in Country\u00a0Music\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u201cHe lived a big, bold, beautiful, blessed life, and I\u2019m holding onto that right now,\u201d Clint Higham, president of Morris Higham Management, said in a statement about his mentor and longtime business partner. \u201cIt\u2019s the end of an era.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMorris began his career in the music industry as a songwriter, penning Johnny Paycheck\u2019s 1967 single \u201cDon\u2019t Monkey With Another Monkey\u2019s Monkey\u201d before turning his attention to the business side.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter launching Dale Morris & Associates, Morris was introduced to the up-and-coming band Alabama in 1979 at The Bowery in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Under his management, Alabama went on to score 33 No. 1 hits on Billboard<\/em>\u2019s Hot Country Songs chart \u2014 the most among duos or groups \u2014 and became an unstoppable touring force, bringing production values on par with those of the era\u2019s biggest rock acts.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the early 1990s, Morris forged a professional relationship with aspiring country singer Chesney, who would go on to become a Country Music Hall of Famer and one of the highest-grossing country touring artists of all time, according to Billboard Boxscore<\/em>. Chesney also holds the record for the most No. 1 songs on Billboard<\/em>\u2019s Country Airplay chart, with 33.<\/p>\n

\n\tMorris\u2019 other clients included Martina McBride, Barbara Mandrell, Jake Owen, Old Dominion, Brandon Lay, Ryan Griffin and Walker County.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe was larger than life, and never met a dream he couldn\u2019t build,\u201d Higham said. \u201cDale Morris gave me my first internship, and I never wanted to go anywhere else. He saw things in people, in me, in Kenny, and inspired everyone to reach beyond what we thought possible. Maybe it\u2019s how much he loved life, loved his family, loved us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2018, Paradigm (now called THE\u00b7TEAM) acquired Dale Morris & Associates, the in-house booking business of Morris and Higham\u2019s firm, Morris Higham Management.<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring his career, Morris also received the T.J. Martell Foundation\u2019s Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award in 2014.<\/p>\n

\n\tMorris was married to his wife, Earline, for 68 years. He was preceded in death by his son, Tim. He is survived by his daughter-in-law, Jennifer; grandchildren Zack, Colton (and wife Mary Blair), Nick (and wife Shelby) and Kendall; and great-grandchildren Mary Dee and Gus.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re so blessed to have had 90 years with him as the patriarch of our family,\u201d his grandson Zack Morris said in a statement. \u201cThank you to our music industry family and to his vast community of friends in Nashville, Boca and beyond for loving him all these many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA celebration of life is being planned for later this fall, with details to be announced in the coming weeks. In lieu of flowers, Morris\u2019 family is asking for donations to St. Jude Children\u2019s Research Hospital.<\/p>\n

\"Billboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/business\/management\/dale-morris-death-manager-alabama-kenny-chesney-dies-1236322517\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dale-morris-country-music-hall-2016-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″] Dale Morris, the legendary Nashville artist manager who helped build the superstar careers of Alabama and Kenny Chesney, has died. He was 89. Morris died peacefully in his sleep Friday night (Aug. 21), his representatives said. A specific cause of death was not provided. Related Gone But Not Forgotten: Musicians We Lost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2107070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2107070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2107070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2107070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2107070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}