Country music star Alan Jackson announced his retirement amid ongoing health issues.
Jackson, 66, said while performing one of his last shows on Saturday at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee that he will end a career that has spanned over 30 years.
"Y'all may have heard that I'm kind of winding down. In fact, this is my last roadshow of my career. I appreciate it. Y'all gonna make me tear up out here," he said on stage. A video of the moment has since been circulating on social media.
"It's been a long, sweet ride; it started 40 years ago this September," Jackson said. "My wife and I drove to Nashville with an old U-Haul trailer and chased this dream. It's been a crazy ride. I lived the American dream, for sure. So blessed. Thank you all so much for all your support of my music and attending my shows."
Jackson, a two-time Grammy-winning singer and songwriter, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017.
Jackson's retirement comes almost four years after he revealed that he had Charcot-Marie-tooth disease, a genetic condition that affects the nervous system.
"I've been reluctant to talk about this publicly and to my fans, but it's been a while, and it's starting to affect my performance onstage a little bit where I don't feel comfortable," he said during a 2021 appearance on the Today show.
"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. I don't want them to think I'm drunk onstage because I'm having problems with mobility and balance.
The diseases, Jackson added, will not kill him, but will eventually "disable" him.
"This is not a condition that I would be complaining about typically, but it is going to affect me performance-wise onstage, and I don't know how much I'll continue to tour," he said.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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