At the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards in 2022, country-music legend Alan Jackson received the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. Receiving the award was a huge victory for the legendary musician, who made sure to thank his wife. However, the victory proved bittersweet due to the fact that he’s in failing health. Join Facts Verse as we explore how a scary diagnosis overshadows Alan Jackson’s lifetime achievement award.
Alan Jackson’s Health Is Failing
Alan Jackson is a country-music legend that’s known for such hits as “Five O’Clock Somewhere” and “Small Town Southern Man”. Sadly, it appears as if Alan’s performing days may be numbered. Recently, Alan was in the midst of a tour when he had to cancel several dates due to his failing health. These cancelled dates included shows in Atlantic City and Pittsburgh, where Alan was set to perform his classic hits in front of innumerable fans. Those that were planning on attending the cancelled dates were given the consoling words that the shows are eventually going to be rescheduled. However, the fact of the matter stands that Alan is suffering from an illness he won’t recover from.
The reason that Alan Jackson is in poor health is because of a neurological condition that the musician suffers from. That condition goes by the name of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The disease is inherited. The nerve damage that it causes can be found predominantly in the limbs. It can make walking hard, and it can also make guitar playing hard. Still, the condition isn’t fatal. Alan Jackson isn’t liable to die as a result of his Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, but the disease’s continually worsening effects are inarguably going to keep making it hard for the musician to perform as a guitar player.
The fact that Alan Jackson’s cancelled tour dates are supposedly going to be rescheduled gives hope to fans that don’t want to see the musician put his performing days behind him. However, there’s little that the musician is going to be able to do about his worsening Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The affliction isn’t going away. Even if Alan manages to soothe his degenerating muscles enough to get back up on the stage for a period of time, there’s going to come a point pretty soon where Alan can’t play guitar.
Alan Was Just Given a Lifetime Achievement Award
The cancellation of the aforementioned tour dates cast a dark shadow over Alan Jackson’s recent victory at the 2022 CMA Awards. The 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards saw Alan being awarded with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. This occurred in November of 2022, just a month after the tour dates were cancelled. During his acceptance speech, Alan Jackson thanked his wife. Alan and his wife have been married for some time. According to Alan, it’s her that helps him cope with the pain that he feels from his Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
Alan Jackson fell in love with his wife while he was still young. However, she wasn’t the first love of his life. The first love of Alan’s life was country music. Alan is still just as in love with country music as ever, and the musician is likely devastated that his performing days are coming to an end. In addition to just recently winning the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, Alan Jackson has also been named Entertainer of the Year at the CMA’s three times. Alan’s time as a performer is coming to an end, but he is going to leave an incredible legacy behind him when he goes.
When Alan Jackson thanked his wife during his acceptance speech for the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, true fans knew that she deserved it for multiple reasons. In addition to being with Alan for numerous years and helping him through plenty of hard times, Alan Jackson’s wife can also be credited with helping the musician make it big. Alan’s wife is named Denise, and the two first met all the way back in high school. The high school’s name was Newnan High School, and it was located in the state of Georgia.
As the story goes, Alan Jackson had his eye on Denise long before she was ever interested in him. The first time that Alan asked his future wife out, she flat-out turned him down. It would only be after years of pestering that Denise would finally caved in to Alan’s relentless romantic advances. After that, it would only be a short period of time before the two were married. However, their marriage would almost end in the 1990s, not long after Alan Jackson struck it big. In fact, they nearly divorced.
The Story of Alan and His Longtime Wife Denise
According to legend, Alan Jackson finally talked his future wife Denise into letting him take her out on a date. The two then went for a drive in his Thunderbird convertible and fell deeply in love. In December of 1979, the two tied the knot. It would be six years after that the two would make the move out to Nashville, Tennessee. Alan wanted to become the next big thing in country music, and Denise believed in him.
Denise’s faith in her husband’s musical talents paid off, but they didn’t pay off over night. Upon arriving in Nashville, both Alan and his wife worked menial jobs in order to make ends meet. Alan worked in a mailroom, while Denise worked as a flight attendant. When Alan wasn’t working in the mailroom, he was passionately dedicating himself to his craft. The aspiring musician worked hard to hone his musical talents, but it would be a chance encounter on Denise’s part that would end up ushering Alan into the country-music industry.
The story has it that Alan Jackson’s career in the country-music industry first began when Denise ran into legendary musician Glen Campbell purely by chance. The encounter occurred at the airport, where Denise was on duty as a flight attendant. Denise approached the musician and told him that he needed to hear her husband’s music. If the person approaching Glen hadn’t been as charming as Denise, the country-music legend likely wouldn’t have thought twice about the request. However, Denise managed to convince Glen that her husband’s music was something he really needed to hear. Denise managed to secure a business card from Glen, and Alan signed a contract shortly afterwards.
Alan and Denise Almost Divorced in the Late 1990s
Given that Denise played a significant role in helping her husband get the record contract that made him a star, it’s no wonder that Alan Jackson was so quick to thank his wife during his acceptance speech at the recent CMAs! For the most part, Denise has been by her husband’s side ever since he first made it big in the country-music industry. However, there was a period of time where they separated.
Alan Jackson’s debut album was released in 1990. The album was called Here in the Real World, and it was a gigantic success. More than two million copies of the album were sold, meaning that Alan was officially the next big thing. As all of this was going on, Alan and Denise were starting a family. The same year that Alan’s debut album released, him and Denise welcomed their first child into the world, named Mattie Denise. The couple then had two more daughters over the course of the 1990s, with those being Alexandra Jane and Dani Grace. From the outside looking in, Alan Jackson appeared to be a loving family man. However, a revelation in the late 1990s would prove that he had flaws.
Adding to the apparent fairy-tale lifestyle that Alan Jackson was living with his longtime wife, the country musician had a giant mansion built for their burgeoning family during the mid-1990s. Given how much joy their appeared to be in the couple’s marriage, it came as a massive shock to country-music fans when Alan and Denise separated in 1997. The reason for the separation would prove even more of a shock. It seems that Alan Jackson let his fame get to his head, and he had cheated on his wife numerous times since striking it big in country music. When Denise found out, she was understandably heartbroken. It was she that called for the separation. However, she would later change her mind.
Alan and Denise Are Still Madly in Love
After separating from husband Alan Jackson due to the country musician’s numerous infidelities, Denise went on to have a religious epiphany. This epiphany allowed Denise to forgive her husband of his past transgressions, and the two ended up getting back together. The world had feared that their longtime marriage was going to end in a divorce, but Alan and Denise appear to be happier than ever nowadays.
Alan Jackson and Denise have been through a lot in their marriage, and Alan’s battle with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is just the most recent bump in the road. Still, it’s the little things in the couple’s relationship that make life worthwhile. In addition to such things as Alan thanking Denise during his acceptance speech, these little things include the time that the two spend together. Alan and Denise claim that they get up every morning together and have a nice conversation over coffee. When they can, they go out to eat and go to the movies. The couple still love to bond after all these years. Denise is going to love Alan long after he loses his ability to play the guitar, and the same can likely be said for the entirety of the country-music world.
Alan Jackson is hoping for the best when it comes to his Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, but his guitar-playing days are still numbered. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Alan Jackson’s wife helped him get the recording contract that made him a star, and that the two have been married for over four decades? Comment down below!
