After
Garth Brooks,
Alan Jackson was the most popular male
country singer of the '90s. An heir to the
new traditionalist movement of the '80s,
Jackson's approach was rooted in classic
honky tonk yet remained comfortably within the contemporary mainstream.
Jackson's hallmark was consistency -- he wrote many of his own hits, and his way with a hook was part of the reason he never really hit a commercial dry spell, even into the new millennium.
He also projected a modest, wholesome, down-to-earth image that made him one of the best-liked stars of his era even apart from his music. The total package resulted in an astounding 20 number one singles and 20 more Top Ten hits, all in the first 12 years of his career.
Jackson was born in the small town of Newnan, GA, on October 17, 1958. He grew up singing
gospel music, both in church and at home with his family, and as a teenager performed locally as part of a
country duo. He left school to work and married his high school sweetheart, Denise, who worked as an airline stewardess. During the early '80s,
Jackson held down a series of odd jobs -- car salesman, construction worker, forklift operator at K-Mart -- while playing the local club circuit with his band, Dixie Steel, and working on his songwriting. He caught his big break when Denise found
country-pop star
Glen Campbell waiting for a flight and gave him a copy of her husband's demo tape;
Campbell in turn gave her contact information for his music publishing company, and the Jacksons picked up and moved to Nashville shortly thereafter.
Campbell's company suggested that
Alan take a year and hone his songwriting even further, and so he worked more odd jobs -- including the mail room at The Nashville Network, plus some session singing -- before finally signing on as a staff writer. By night, he performed in Nashville clubs and recorded an updated demo with songwriter/producer Keith Stegall. In 1989,
Jackson became the first artist signed to Arista's new
country division.
Jackson's debut album,
Here in the Real World, was issued in 1990 and became a platinum-selling hit on the strength of four Top Five hits: the title cut, "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow," "Wanted," and the first of many chart-toppers, "I'd Love You All Over Again." He shot to full-fledged superstardom with the follow-up, 1991's
Don't Rock the Jukebox, whose title track was an inescapable number one smash that year. The record produced three more number ones ("Someday," "Dallas," "Love's Got a Hold on You") and also contained one of
Jackson's signature songs, the Top Five "Midnight in Montgomery," which told the story of a visit to
Hank Williams' grave. Also in 1991,
Jackson co-wrote several songs with
Randy Travis for
Travis' High Lonesome album. With 1992's
A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'Bout Love),
Jackson took his place as not only one of the most popular stars of his time, but also one of the best. The number one smash "Chattahoochee" became another signature tune, and
Jackson also topped the charts with "She's Got the Rhythm (And I Got the Blues)," while scoring three more Top Five hits from the album -- which became his first to top the
country LP charts.
In late 1993,
Jackson released the stopgap
holiday album Honky Tonk Christmas, which actually avoided
standards in favor of lesser-known material. He returned in 1994 with
Who I Am, his second straight number one
country album, which gave him a staggering four number one singles: a cover of
Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," the music-biz satire "Gone Country" (a dig at executives hopping on the commercial
country bandwagon), "Livin' on Love," and "I Don't Even Know Your Name." In only his fifth year on the scene,
Jackson was able to issue The Greatest Hits Collection in 1995 and scored hits with three newly minted songs: a cover of
George Jones' "Tall Tall Trees," "I'll Try" (both number one), and "Home." It took The Greatest Hits Collection only a year to sell over three million copies. And, of course,
Jackson was far from done. 1996's
Everything I Love became his fourth straight release to top the
country album charts, and it gave him five Top Ten hits, including the number ones "Little Bitty" (a
Tom T. Hall cover) and "There Goes." The 1998 follow-up, High Mileage, also hit number one and became
Jackson's highest-charting album on the pop side, reaching number four; it contained four more Top Tens, including the chart-topping "Right on the Money."
Jackson paid tribute to his favorite
country singers of the past on the easygoing 1999 covers album
Under the Influence, which featured material by
Jones,
Merle Haggard,
Charley Pride,
Jimmy Buffett,
Hank Williams, Jr.,
Don Williams (the chart-topping "It Must Be Love"), and
Jim Ed Brown (the Top Ten "Pop a Top"), among others. Although
Under the Influence just missed hitting number one, 2000's
When Somebody Loves You returned
Jackson to the top of the album charts and gave him another number one in "Where I Come From." That year, he also teamed up with
George Strait for the duet "Murder on Music Row," a strident defense of
traditional country in the face of a new wave of crossover stars.
The year 2001 brought an enormous hit in "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," a poignant attempt to make sense of the aftermath of September 11; rush-released after an awards-show premiere, the song rocketed to the top of the
country charts and also became his first single to crack the pop Top 30. It was followed by the full-length
Drive in 2002, which spawned another number one in "Drive (For Daddy Gene)," a tribute to
Jackson's late father. The album was
Jackson's seventh to top the
country charts, and it also became his first to top the pop charts. His second greatest-hits collection appeared in 2003 and featured the crossover hit "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," a duet with
Jimmy Buffett. A year later the well-received
What I Do became the purest
country album from
Jackson in years.
Precious Memories, released in 2006, was a collection of 15
hymns originally recorded as a Christmas gift for his mother. Later that same year,
Jackson released
Like Red on a Rose, a mellow
Alison Krauss production. Live at Texas Stadium, a concert set with
George Strait and
Jimmy Buffett, followed in 2007. A new studio effort,
Good Time, appeared in 2008. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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