Dale Morris, one of the leading names in the ranks of Nashville music managers, who helped build up superstar careers for the group Alabama and then Kenny Chesney nearly from scratch, died Friday at 89. A representative said Morris died in his sleep.

“He lived a big, bold, beautiful, blessed life, and I’m holding onto that right now,” said his protege and eventually managerial partner of many years, Clint Higham, president of Morris Higham Management. “It’s the end of an era.”

Morris met the fledgling Alabama in 1989 while heading up Dale Morris & Associates and played a massive role in making the group the most successful band in the history of country music, with 33 No. 1 hits in the 1980s and ’90s, along with a huge touring career that led to their being named Entertainer of the Year three times by the Country Music Association and five times by the Academy of Country Music in the mid-’80s.

Lightning struck twice for Morris, as he oversaw the rise of Chesney from a country also-ran into the genre’s most reliable stadium-filler, who was named Entertainer of the Year four times in the 2000s by both the CMAs and ACMs, and who has enjoyed 32 No. 1 Billboard country smashes.

Other Morris Higham Management clients included Martina McBride, Old Dominion, Jake Owen, Gretchen Wilson, Barbara Mandrell, Dailey & Vincent, Carley Pearce, Brantley Gilbert and Big & Rich.

Said Higham, “He was larger than life, and never met a dream he couldn’t build. Dale 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’s how much he loved life, loved his family, loved us.”

Before taking on management, Morris began his career as a songwriter, reaching the top 5 in 1967 with a cut by Johnny Paycheck, “Don’t Monkey With Another Monkey’s Monkey.”

He received the T.J. Martell Foundation’s Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award in 2014 (at which he is pictured holding his trophy alongside Chesney, at top).

In 2018, Morris Higham Management was acquired by Paradigm Talent Agency.

Morris was married to his wife, Earline, for 68 years. He was preceded in death by a son, Tim. Survivors include the couple’s daughter-in-law, Jennifer, grandchildren Zack, Colton (and wife Mary Blair), Nick (and wife Shelby) and Kendall, and great grandchildren Mary Dee and Gus.

“We’re so blessed to have had 90 years with him as the patriarch of our family,” said Zack Morris. “Thank 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.”

A celebration of life is being planned for this fall, with details to be announced in the weeks ahead.