Jimmy Hart’s Band The Gentrys To Release Long-Lost Album

Jimmy Hart is stepping back into the music spotlight, with word that his band The Gentrys is preparing to release a long-lost album. Details on a title, release date, or tracklist have not yet been made public, but the announcement alone is enough to get longtime wrestling and music fans buzzing.

For those who only know Hart as the loud-mouthed manager who guided the likes of Hulk Hogan, The Honky Tonk Man, and countless other stars through WWE and WCW over the decades, it’s easy to forget that “The Mouth of the South” had an entire career before he ever picked up a microphone at ringside. The Gentrys, the Memphis-born group Hart helped front, scored a bona fide hit in the mid-1960s with “Keep on Dancing,” a song that became a garage-rock and pop staple of the era. That crossover between music and pro wrestling wasn’t unusual for the time — Memphis in particular was a hotbed where the wrestling business and the music business often shared the same promoters, venues, and even performers, and Hart became one of the most visible examples of that overlap.

Hart later leaned into that musical background during his wrestling run, most memorably producing wrestling-themed songs and jingles for the acts he managed, further blurring the line between his two careers. So the idea of unreleased Gentrys material finally seeing the light of day carries some real nostalgic weight, both for wrestling diehards who know Hart primarily through his Hall of Fame managerial career and for classic pop and rock fans who remember The Gentrys from their original run.

It’s worth noting there’s no indication this ties into any current wrestling storyline, appearance, or business venture — this appears to be purely a music-industry story tied to Hart’s life outside the ring. Still, given how closely his name is associated with pro wrestling nostalgia, it’s the kind of crossover news that tends to resonate with the wrestling audience as much as it does with music collectors.

Hart, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, remains one of the most recognizable and beloved figures from wrestling’s territorial and national expansion eras, known as much for his flashy jackets and screaming interviews as for the stable of champions he managed. A long-lost Gentrys album resurfacing decades later adds another layer to a career that already spans two very different forms of entertainment.

No further specifics on distribution, streaming availability, or physical release have surfaced yet. PW Exclusive will keep an eye out for additional details as they emerge, but for now, fans eager to hear new-old music from one of wrestling’s most colorful personalities will simply have to wait for an official rollout.