One half of the award-winning country music duo Montgomery Gentry, Troy Gentry died Friday in a helicopter crash hours before the band was scheduled to perform in New Jersey.

The death of 50-year-old Gentry, who with bandmate Eddie Montgomery released three platinum albums in the 2000s, was announced via a statement on the duo’s website, and shocked the music world.

The same day, country singer and songwriter Don Williams died from illness at 78.

Musicians, country or otherwise, mourned Friday’s tragedy on social media, paying respects to Williams as well as Gentry.