Alan Jackson

Induction Year: 2011

Birth Name: Alan Eugene Jackson

Birth Date: 10-17-1958

Place of Birth: Newnan, Georgia

"To me, country music's about being in love, having your heart broke, drinking and partying, living and dying, family and where you grew up," Alan Jackson has said. Over the past two decades, he's stuck by those tried and true themes, with stellar success — 40 Top 5 country singles, multi-platinum sales, tours around the globe. And alongside Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Merle Haggard, Jackson is part of an elite group of songwriters who've written and recorded more than 20 songs that became #1 hits.

The youngest of five kids born to blue-collar parents, Alan Jackson grew up singing gospel music in church and listening to records by Gene Watson and Hank Williams Jr. As a teenager, he and a friend performed locally as a country duo. Then after high school, he worked a series of jobs — car salesman, construction worker, forklift operator — while playing the club circuit and writing songs. His first break came in 1985, when his wife, a stewardess, noticed Glen Campbell waiting for a flight and handed him Jackson's demo tape. A move to Nashville followed, where, with Campbell's encouragement, Jackson spent the next two years singing demos and sharpening his songwriting skills.

In 1989, he released his major label debut on Arista Records, Here in the Real World, which yielded four Top 5 hits. A traditionalist at heart, Jackson came up during the dramatic early '90s expansion in country's popularity that also launched hitmakers like Garth Brooks and Clint Black. Jackson's own commercial twist has been filtering the honky-tonk sounds of the past through a thoughtful, down-to-earth modern-guy persona. Several of his hits have even paid direct lyrical tribute to country's golden era; "Midnight in Montgomery" tells of a visit to Hank Williams' grave, while "Don't Rock the Jukebox" extols the heartache benefits of George Jones over the Rolling Stones. In 1999, Jackson made Under the Influence, an album of cover material honoring favorite singers like Charley Pride, Hank Williams Jr., Merle Haggard and George Jones.

Building on the success of his 1990s run, Jackson has been a consistent hitmaker ever since, with sales topping 60 million, a whopping 35 #1 hits (26 of which he wrote or co-wrote), two Grammys, 17 CMAs, 16 ACMs and over 50 ASCAP Awards.

Jackson has also written hits for other country stars, including Randy Travis, Faith Hill, Clay Walker and Chely Wright. In 2011, he started his own label ACR (Alan's Country Records).

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Song Catalog

"Better Class of Losers"

(written with Randy Travis)

Randy Travis1992 #2 country
 

"Chasin' That Neon Rainbow"

(written with Jim McBride)

Alan Jackson1990 #2 country

"Chattahoochee"

(written with Jim McBride)

CMA Song of the Year

Alan Jackson1993 #1 country,#46 pop
 

"Country Boy"

Alan Jackson2008 #1 country,#49 pop
 

"Dallas"

(written with Keith Stegall)

Alan Jackson1992 #1 country
 

"Don't Rock the Jukebox"

(written with Roger Murrah, Keith Stegall)

Alan Jackson1991 #1 country

"Drive (For Daddy Gene)"

Alan Jackson2002 #1 country,#28 pop
 

"Forever Together"

(written with Randy Travis)

Randy Travis1991 #1 country
 

"Gone Crazy"

Alan Jackson1999 #4 country,#43 pop
 

"Good Time"

Alan Jackson2008 #1 country,#40 pop
 

"Here in the Real World"

(written with Mark Irwin)

Alan Jackson1990 #2 country
 

"I Can't Do That Anymore"

Faith Hill1996 #8 country
 

"I Don't Even Know Your Name"

(written with Ron Jackson, Andy Loftin)

Alan Jackson1995 #1 country
 

"I'd Love You All Over Again"

Alan Jackson1991 #1 country
 

"I'd Surrender All"

(written with Randy Travis)

Randy Travis1992 #20 country
 

"I'll Try"

Alan Jackson1996 #1 country
 

"If I Could Make a Living"

(written with Roger Murrah, Keith Stegall)

Clay Walker1994 #1 country

"Little Man"

Alan Jackson1999 #3 country,#39 pop
 

"Livin' on Love"

Alan Jackson1994 #1 country
 

"Midnight in Montgomery"

(written with Don Sampson)

Alan Jackson1992 #3 country
 

"Remember When"

Alan Jackson2003 #1 country,#29 pop
 

"Small Town Southern Man"

Alan Jackson2007 #1 country,#42 pop
 

"Someday"

(written with Jim McBride)

Alan Jackson1991 #1 country
 

"There Goes"

Alan Jackson1997 #1 country
 

"Till I Was Loved By You"

(written with Mark Irwin)

Chely Wright1994 #48 country
 

"Tonight I Climbed the Wall"

Alan Jackson1993 #4 country
 

"When Somebody Loves You"

Alan Jackson2001 #5 country,#52 pop
 

"Where I Come From"

Alan Jackson2000 #1 country,#34 pop

"Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)"

CMA Song of the Year, Grammy for Country Song of the Year

Alan Jackson2001 #1 country,#28 pop
 

"Work in Progress"

Alan Jackson2002 #3 country,#35 pop

Other Media

Alan Jackson

Induction Year: 2011