Alan Jackson will take the stage tonight for the final show of his career, the star-studded Last Call: One More For the Road – The Finale, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
The concert is one of the hottest tickets of the year, and Nashville has been buzzing all week for one of the biggest concerts we’ve seen in a long time.
Along with Alan, the show will feature an all-star lineup including Eric Church, George Strait, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Riley Green, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Jake Owen, Jon Pardi, Thomas Rhett, George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Lainey Wilson and Lee Ann Womack – and of course we also expect some surprise guests too.
The show sold out almost instantly when it went on sale, and tickets have been hard to come by. But the good news is that the show will be livestreamed on Broadway. Keepin’ It Country on Broadway, presented by Edward Jones, will feature a screen and stage right in the middle of Broadway to livestream the entire show.
It’s truly the end of an era for a country music icon. Alan Jackson is one of my personal favorites and probably deserves a spot on my own personal Mount Rushmore of country music legends… a staple of my childhood, my college years and even now as an adult with my own kids, Alan’s timeless catalog still finds ways to move me all these years later.
And while tonight is his final concert, let’s take a look back at the very beginning…
His First TV Appearance Ever
It’s always cool seeing some old footage of country music superstars, before anybody even knew who they were. It’s also crazy to me how many stars competed in these singing competitions, trying to get their name out there, and didn’t even win.
Miranda Lambert and Kacey Musgraves both got their start on Nashville Star – and neither of them won. Morgan Wallen was on The Voice and didn’t make it out of the playoff rounds to compete on the live shows. And the list goes on and on.
It just goes to show how these “competitions” really don’t mean all that much when it comes to finding the next big thing. But every once in a while, somebody comes through one of these shows and ends up going on to become a superstar… and I guess that’s what keeps us all watching.
For example? Mr. Alan Jackson.
Alan was featured on the Tennessee News Network’s show You Can Be A Star, a daily talent show featuring amateur country singers, way back in 1985. But Alan wasn’t a contestant, he actually worked in the mailroom at TNN and was sitting in the audience at the time. He performed a little rendition of George Jones’ hit, “He Stopped Loving Her Today” as the show was headed to a commercial break. Little did everybody in that room know they were getting to watch a country mega-star in the making.
As is turns out, Glen Campbell saw that performance and hired Alan as a writer with his publishing company, and he went on to become the first act ever signed to Arista Records. Alan’s longtime producer, Keith Stegall, was also a judge on the show, who saw this brief performance, and the rest was history. He produced just about every album Jackson has ever released.
Talk about the right place at the right time.
George Jones’ Funeral
Alan Jackson would later go on to perform that very same song at George Jones’ funeral, many years later.
A video resurfaced on YouTube of Alan Jackson singing at country legend George Jones‘ funeral back in 2013, covering one of Jones’ all-time classics: “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Fighting back the tears, Jackson delivers an incredible rendition to the crowd, the auditorium at the Grand Ole Opry erupting with claps and cheers as he hits the crescendo of the ’80s classic.
You can tell Alan was doing his best to keep from breaking down, as Jones was an inspiration to himself as well as tons of other country music singers. But as he approaches the final notes, he just can’t quite fight it any longer.
He pulls off his cowboy hat for one last goodbye, and with a tear in his eye, works up the strength to say, “We love you, George.”
Talk about cutting DEEP… and a true full circle moment for the kid from Newnan, Georgia.