Alan Jackson

From ArticleWorld

Alan Jackson is a country music singer, songwriter, and is one of the most and best selling country musicians of the 21st century. He was born in Newnan, Georgia on October 17, 1958 to a blue-collar, working class family. He met his wife to be, Denise, while he was in high school at a Dairy Queen. Jackson played in various country bands and honky tonks in Georgia, working as a used car salesman, forklift operator, and mechanic to pay the bills.

Jackson’s wife introduced him to Glen Campbell, whom she met working as a flight attendant and gave him Jackson’s demo tape. Campbell was impressed and helped him get his career of the ground. His first album was produced in 1990, entitled Here in the Real World, and was an instant hit. His second album, Don’t Rock the Jukebox came along just a year later and was just as big. He ontinued with a 1992 album that was an even bigger success than his first two: A Lot About Livin’ (And a Little About Love). He has won many awards during his career, dating all the way back to the early 1990’s. Some of these include Songwriter of the Year in 1993, Male Vocalist of the Year in 1994-95, and various album and songs of the year awards. He won a Grammy for Best Country Song in 2002 after the release of "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)," which was a tribute to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Many of Jackson’s critics have called him a "hat act," but his music is influenced deep in the roots of country music singers like Charley Pride and George Jones. Although he emphasizes his originality, he does tip his hat and pay tribute to the sounds that shaped his music, like Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, Gene Watson, Mel McDaniel, Don Williams, Charley Pride, Charly McClain, Eddie Cochran, and others.

Nearly 16 years into his career, Jackson has sold over 40 million albums and had more than thirty of his songs reach number one of the country music charts, 21 of which he either wrote or co-wrote.