Country legend Alan Jackson said farewell to Salt Lake City — and the fans showed up

For 30 years, Alan Jackson has been singing “Gone Country,” which tells the story of a Vegas lounge singer, a folk artist and a “serious composer” who all turn to country music out of a desperation to keep their careers alive.

The upbeat song is a bit tongue and cheek — the songwriter himself, Bob McDill, was entrenched in the world of pop music before he crossed over to the country side. But there’s an underlying truth to Jackson’s 1994 hit: country music seems to have a gravitational pull that draws in artists and fans from all backgrounds.

Perhaps that’s even more the case in 2024, when superstars like Beyonce and Post Malone have offered up their own takes on the genre, releasing albums that blend traditional country music with a wide range of styles, including hip-hop and pop.

“Gone Country” pokes fun at this trend, but it also highlights how all-encompassing the genre can be — Beyonce and Post Malone both hit No. 1 with their country albums this year, after all. But their current success hasn’t pushed out old-school country artists like Jackson.

At 66 years old, the country music legend is on a farewell tour that stopped in Salt Lake City Saturday night. Thirty-five years since his first record deal — and 35 No. 1 hits later — Jackson seemed emotional as he stepped onto the stage to the strains of “Gone Country” and looked around at the packed arena.

The cheers spoke volumes: In country music, there’s room for it all.

Alan Jackson brings his greatest hits to Salt Lake City

Jackson is firmly rooted in traditional country music, inspired by the likes of George Jones and Hank Williams, and in a similar camp of style with Garth Brooks and the late Toby Keith.

Wearing a wide-brimmed cowboy hat and faded ripped jeans, the singer referred to “real country music” a few times during his Salt Lake show.

“Appreciate y’all being here. I always tell everybody, ‘I just came here to play real country music tonight,’” he told his fans at one point. “Songs about life and love and heartache, drinking and dancing and crying and dying and mama and having a good time — all that stuff that makes country music.”

“The main thing is I just want to have a good time with you,” he continued, encouraging the crowd to dance.

And the fans were more than happy to oblige.

Jackson’s greatest hits are so wide-reaching they’re inescapable. He’s got more No. 1 hits than he could comfortably fit in a setlist — but his farewell tour setlist delivers the best.

A couple of minutes before 10 p.m., after more than an hour of performing hits including “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” and “Remember When,” Jackson launched into “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” — complete with a “We miss you Jimmy Buffett.” And the hits kept coming as he followed that up with “Chattahoochee” and “Where I Come From.”

He actually messed up the lyrics to “Where I Come From,” and had to restart a verse a few times. But the fans were forgiving — and many were likely distracted by the video that played during the song, featuring clips of downtown Salt Lake City and highlighting collegiate and professional sports in Utah (the footage was so recent that it included BYU’s game-winning field goal over Utah in one of the rivalry’s most intense and controversial games that happened earlier this month).

Jackson’s voice is a little worn, but 1990s country music has never really been about vocal prowess — although Reba McEntire, Faith Hill, Martina McBride and other female country stars from this era certainly have powerhouse voices. Rather, it’s in the storytelling, the imagery of summertime and hanging out by the river and sitting on the front porch. Learning how to drive, finding love, growing old. Vignettes that are vague but relatable enough to allow the listeners to become the characters.

And some fans really got into character. A group of women wore shades, mustaches and life vests, mimicking Jackson’s appearance in the official music video for “Chattahoochee.” One man wore the No. 34 Dallas Cowboys shirt that Jackson also wears in that video.

“I wish I still looked like some of y’all,” Country Music Hall of Famer joked.

Jackson addressed his fans a lot throughout the night, sharing the stories behind some of his songs and encouraging people to have a good time. But most of all, he wanted those in attendance to know how much he appreciates them.

Because this tour might be his last chance to do so — at least in person.

Is this really Alan Jackson’s farewell tour?

Ozzy Osbourne went on his “No More Tours” run in 1992, and embarked on a “No More Tours 2″ run in 2018. The following year, Kiss went on an “End of the Road” world tour — nearly 20 years after its farewell tour. In 1980, Don Henley said “hell would freeze over” before the Eagles toured again, and 14 years later, the band kicked off its tour … appropriately titled “Hell Freezes Over.”

But Jackson’s farewell tour, titled “Last Call: One More for the Road,” doesn’t appear to be a marketing gimmick.

Everything Alan Jackson Has Said About His Battle With Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease

Country superstar Alan Jackson has been battling Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease for more than a decade, but he didn’t go public with his diagnosis until September 2021.

“I have this neuropathy and neurological disease,” the Country Music Hall of Fame member explained during a Today show interview at the time. “It’s genetic that I inherited from my daddy. … There’s no cure for it, but it’s been affecting me for years. And it’s getting more and more obvious.”

Abbreviated as CMT, Charcot-Marie-Tooth is a hereditary disorder that affects the nervous system, causing progressive loss of muscle tissue and loss of sensation in the arms and legs. Patients may also experience trouble balancing and difficulty walking.

As Jackson explained during his Today appearance, the disease doesn’t shorten life expectancy, but it can make movement extremely difficult — especially for a person used to performing on stage night after night.

“I’ve been reluctant to talk about this publicly and to my fans,” the “Chattahoochee” singer explained when revealing his battle with the disorder, which also affected his grandmother and sister. “It’s called CMT, ironically enough, because CMT was a big part of my career.”

The Grammy winner released his debut album, Here in the Real World, in 1990, eventually becoming one of the most successful country stars of all time. He has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and has been named the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year three times.

Throughout his career, he’s had wife Denise Jackson by his side. The duo, who were high school sweethearts, tied the knot in 1979 and later welcomed three daughters: Mattie (born in 1990), Ali (born in 1993) and Dani (born in 1997).

The couple briefly separated in 1998, but after their reconciliation, Denise wrote a 2007 memoir about their romance titled It’s All About Him: Finding the Love of My Life. Since his diagnosis, the author has been one of her husband’s biggest supporters.

“When I’m down, he lifts me up. When he’s down, I try to lift him up,” Denise told Jenna Bush Hager in September 2021. “The happy side of that is we’ve had a fairy tale life.”

After opening up about his health battle, Alan announced the Last Call Tour, but he emphasized that he didn’t want to refer to it as a farewell tour. He’s also continued to support his colleagues in the music industry, playing at a Loretta Lynn tribute concert at the Grand Ole Opry in October 2022. The following month, he accepted the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the CMA Awards.

During his speech, he thanked Denise for her unwavering support over the years. “We started out as teenagers, and she’s hung in there and rode this roller-coaster ride with me for 40-something years now,” he said. “I’m probably not always the easiest person to love, but she’s hung in there and helped me through hard times, and we’ve shared great times. The good and the bad, the happy and the sad. We’ve survived a lot.”

Keep scrolling for everything Alan has said about his battle with CMT:

Country superstar Alan Jackson has been battling Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease for more than a decade, but he didn’t go public with his diagnosis until September 2021.

“I have this neuropathy and neurological disease,” the Country Music Hall of Fame member explained during a Today show interview at the time. “It’s genetic that I inherited from my daddy. … There’s no cure for it, but it’s been affecting me for years. And it’s getting more and more obvious.”

Abbreviated as CMT, Charcot-Marie-Tooth is a hereditary disorder that affects the nervous system, causing progressive loss of muscle tissue and loss of sensation in the arms and legs. Patients may also experience trouble balancing and difficulty walking.

As Jackson explained during his Today appearance, the disease doesn’t shorten life expectancy, but it can make movement extremely difficult — especially for a person used to performing on stage night after night.

“I’ve been reluctant to talk about this publicly and to my fans,” the “Chattahoochee” singer explained when revealing his battle with the disorder, which also affected his grandmother and sister. “It’s called CMT, ironically enough, because CMT was a big part of my career.”

The Grammy winner released his debut album, Here in the Real World, in 1990, eventually becoming one of the most successful country stars of all time. He has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and has been named the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year three times.

Throughout his career, he’s had wife Denise Jackson by his side. The duo, who were high school sweethearts, tied the knot in 1979 and later welcomed three daughters: Mattie (born in 1990), Ali (born in 1993) and Dani (born in 1997).

The couple briefly separated in 1998, but after their reconciliation, Denise wrote a 2007 memoir about their romance titled It’s All About Him: Finding the Love of My Life. Since his diagnosis, the author has been one of her husband’s biggest supporters.

“When I’m down, he lifts me up. When he’s down, I try to lift him up,” Denise told Jenna Bush Hager in September 2021. “The happy side of that is we’ve had a fairy tale life.”

After opening up about his health battle, Alan announced the Last Call Tour, but he emphasized that he didn’t want to refer to it as a farewell tour. He’s also continued to support his colleagues in the music industry, playing at a Loretta Lynn tribute concert at the Grand Ole Opry in October 2022. The following month, he accepted the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the CMA Awards.