Alan Jackson says he’s ‘hanging it up full time’ — right after one last country-music tour
Country music‘s Alan Jackson is hanging up his cowboy hat, announcing his final tour dates while his health is “getting worse.”
“I’ve been touring for over 30 years, you know, played everywhere in the country and parts of the world and had a wonderful career,” he said in a video posted on X, announcing the final dates of his Last Call: One More for the Road farewell tour.
The “Chattahoochee” singer, 65, cited a desire to spend more time with family — in particular, his three daughters and his grandchildren — as he enters his “twilight years.”
“I enjoy spending more time at home and don’t want to be away like I had to be in my younger days,” he said. “I think it’s just getting time to start thinking about hanging it up full time.”
‘I hoped I’d be able to be there; I hate to disappoint my fans,’ Jackson said of postponing a couple of upcoming weekend shows.
Another factor in Jackson’s decision was his diagnosis with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a genetic neurological condition that affects muscle control in the feet and hands. The condition is not fatal but can severely restrict mobility, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The singer has had to postpone shows in order to deal with related health issues, notably halting a multi-show outing in 2022 to deal with “health issues” stemming from the disease.
“Most of my fans know I have a degenerative health condition that affects my legs and arms and my mobility,” the two-time Grammy winner explained in this week’s video. “And it’s getting worse.”
“It makes me more uncomfortable on stage and I just have a hard time. I just want to think about maybe calling it quits before I’m unable to do the job like I want to,” he concluded.
Implicit in the name of Alan Jackson’s current road show, the Keepin’ It Country tour, is the idea that this veteran country star is engaged in some resistance.
The Country Music Hall of Fame member revealed his diagnosis in a 2021 interview on “Today,” explaining that he decided to make the information public because it was beginning to visibly affect his performances.
“I just wanted the fans and the public to know if they’ve come to see me in the last few years or if they come to see me in the future if I play anymore, what’s going on,” he told co-host Jenna Bush Hager.
“In some ways, [disclosing the condition is] a relief because I was starting to get so self-conscious up there, about stumbling around,” he said. “And it just made me nervous up there trying to keep my balance. And I look pitiful. So I think it’ll be good for me now to get it out in the open, and so if anybody’s curious why I don’t walk right, that’s why.”
At the time, the entertainer said he had no plans to stop touring but that his health condition might affect his availability.
Jackson’s final shows will be played from August to May in Boston; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Kansas City, Mo.; Salt Lake City; Oklahoma City; Fort Worth, Texas; Orlando and Tampa, Fla., and Milwaukee. Tickets went on sale Friday.
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