Alan Jackson Pulls Out of CMA Fest
If you were planning to head to the madness that is the CMA Fest in Nashville next week, one of the few bright spots when it comes to the big headliners of the event has officially pulled out. Alan Jackson was scheduled to perform on the main stage at Nissan Stadium on Saturday, June 11th as one of the headliners, but has cancelled due to undisclosed reasons.
Alan Jackson leaves such a gaping hole in the lineup, it’s going to take two acts to replace him. Old Dominion and Brothers Osborne are now scheduled for that slot, but good luck on that satisfying fans of Alan Jackson. If anything, that might cheese them off.
There are plenty of interesting and entertaining events that happen on the periphery of CMA Fest such as Marty Stuart’s annual Late Night Jam which will feature Billy Strings and others this year, as well as some worthy acts on side stages. But Alan Jackson’s involvement was probably a big draw to many fans on the more traditional side of country music to an event that otherwise significantly caters to the more current and mainstream side of country.
Though we don’t know if health is the reason for the cancellation, Alan Jackson confirmed in September of last year that he’s suffering from the neurological disorder Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, also known as CMT. It primarily affects the peripheral nervous system causing balance issues by compromising smaller muscles in the body’s extremities. The good news is that the disease is not life threatening, nor does it affect longevity. But it has affected Jackson’s ability to stand and move around.
Nonetheless, Alan Jackson will be heading out on his “Last Call Tour” this summer, with his first stop in Biloxi, Mississippi on June 24th. Jackson has made sure to clarify that he’s not calling this a “final” tour. But with his ongoing health issues, there is no guarantee how long he will be able to perform.
Alan Jackson released his latest album Where Have You Gone to high praise in 2021.
June 5, 2022 @ 8:40 am
“Alan Jackson’s involvement was probably a big draw to many fans on the more traditional side of country music to an event that otherwise significantly caters to the more current and mainstream side of country.”
This is very true. I went to CMA Fest in 2017-2019 and saw Bobby Bare, Bill Anderson, Ricky Skaggs, Charley Pride, Kenny Rogers, Rhonda Vincent and Daryle Singletary, Dailey and Vincent, TG Sheppard, Garth Brooks, and many other quality artists. I got to do a free meet and greet with Chris Stapleton at the George Jones complex. I bought tickets early for this year’s festival, expecting to see that level, but Alan Jackson was the only CMHOF member scheduled to perform, and now, he’s out. Bill Anderson is still scheduled to do a meet and greet, but he’s the only hall of famer on the official CMA Fest schedule, as far as I’m aware. A dozen or so CMHOF members are playing somewhere in Nashville during the week, just not at CMA Fest itself. CMA Fest got rid of the Forever Country stage this year, which was where many traditional country artists played. It’s too late for me to back out now, because I already have the hotel and everything lined up, plus tickets to the Opry and to see Marty’s late night jam, but I’m disappointed that the CMA booked so few older and traditional artists this year, compared to even the last three festivals.
June 5, 2022 @ 8:57 am
Wasn’t planning on going to the fest but I do got tickets to his Knoxville show. Hopefully this doesn’t effect that. I saw King George last November, Alan is the last country artist that I’ve yet to see that I really want to and I knew this might be one of those last chances so hopefully nothing is wrong on the concert end. I saw where his concert is one of the hottest ones this summer.
June 5, 2022 @ 10:01 am
Howlin’ Wolf often performed sitting down. He was still a badass.
Sincere well wishes to Alan. I hope it’s nothing serious.
June 5, 2022 @ 10:27 am
Alan’s health comes first, I just hope he is ok.
June 5, 2022 @ 1:29 pm
Funny how he pulled out the day after they announced confederate flags would be banned.
June 5, 2022 @ 1:53 pm
I’m seeing some folks trying to correlate these two things, but I’m seeing no indications they’re related. Alan Jackson has never been known as a guy to throw the Confederate flag up on his stuff. And at this point, banning Confederate Flag stuff at CMA Fest or anywhere else is like banning Z Cavaricci jeans. The media who has never been to a country music festival and thinks all country fans are cousin fuckers would love to think of this as some pervasive problem. I go to country festivals all the time and have seen maybe one or two Confederate flags over the last 14 years. No doubt though, if someone was walking around with the folded corner of a Confederate flag bandana peeking out of the back of their pants, someone would snap a photo of it and Rolling Stone Country would use it as an opportunity to claim the entirety of country music and everyone that attended CMA Fest is a full blown racist.
June 5, 2022 @ 4:08 pm
I’ve been to CMA Fest. I’ve never seen a confederate flag. At least 50% of the people there were just there to party, which is cool. I met very few traditional country fans. The festival is much more about mainstream country with a lot of up and coming artists filling out the smaller stages around town. Banning the confederate flag is a almost a 100% non-issue. You are spot on Trigger.
June 6, 2022 @ 11:49 am
What an inflammatory accusation. I can’t recall anytime Alan Jackson has even gotten political. Baffled that you’d imply he’d pull out because of this when he hasnt ever adorned that flag.
June 6, 2022 @ 10:04 pm
hell yea that would make me like alan jackson more! but its probably because old dominion and brothers osbourne are garbage! i would not want to be in that lineup!
June 9, 2022 @ 12:11 pm
Alan is top notch country. Country cool and very classy. He is non political and keeps his feelings to himself. Just want everyone to have a GOOD TIME.
June 11, 2022 @ 6:59 pm
The man has health issues..Maybe his Dr advised him to take it easy before his tour starts.
I don’t think not flying a confederate flag is the reason he dropped out.
Sad,he won’t be performing..I pray that he feels better soon..Enjoy concert..
June 5, 2022 @ 1:39 pm
This year CMA Fest has banned all Confederate imagery, so CMA Fest can go straight to hell.
June 5, 2022 @ 2:04 pm
Nobody in Confederate flag shorts would be caught dead dropping $700 to soak up a set from Dan + Shay at the Vitamin Water stage. I’ll eat my hat in anyone at the 2021 CMA Fest had any “Confederate imagery” anywhere on their person. The CMA’s ban is performative, and so are the people complaining about it. They have a right as a private promoter to request things of ticket holders, just as you have a right to not attend, which you weren’t going to do anyway.
June 5, 2022 @ 4:49 pm
Tex,
I’m no fan of the Democrat battle flag. And I feel embarrassed for my fellow southerners, who cling to a rich man’s flag, believing it represents their heritage. I don’t look down my nose at them; I just feel embarrassed for them for allowing themselves to be baited into apologizing for something, which now gets used against them falsely.
Having said that, I’m aware that most people on both sides of the current cold war we’re in, are completely ignorant of history, and so all that matters is modern perception. The CMA is a corporation. Of course they’re going to use this to signal.
Does it really matter, though? As a C(c)ountry music lifer, the CMA has been dead to me for at least a quarter century. The fact that they’re now peeling their butt cheeks open for communists, would only matter to me, if the CMA mattered to me, which it doesn’t, and hasn’t for a very long time.
You should hate the CMA, because the CMA hates C(c)ountry Music.
June 6, 2022 @ 10:31 am
Ok boomer
June 5, 2022 @ 1:54 pm
Anyone with any balls would pull out after the announcement. But we PC wusses now. So sad.
June 5, 2022 @ 1:59 pm
@ Kevin,
I’m not.
Not by a long shot.
June 5, 2022 @ 2:46 pm
I’m a huge NASCAR fan and attend about nine races a year. I am a proud Southerner but I don’t need a flag to prove how southern I am.
NASCAR banning of the confederate flag brought more flags to the track. Before the ban, you really had to try to find one. Fans didn’t care until they were told they couldn’t have one. When they announce the ban you had a spike in confederate flags. It felt more like a show for publicity than actual concern for the flag. And I think if they cared the flag would have been banned years ago.
Same thing with the CMA‘s… it’s like they have to prove how non-racist they are. When all they have to do is not be racist. And if the CMA cared about race Charley Crockett would be bigger than Jimmie Allen or the unbelievably horrible Breland. The only way I’d go to the CMAs is if Jason Eady was covering Nelsons Phases and Stages again live (and I am going to be a squeaky wheel every single time I see him until he records puts Phases and Stages on tape) or Turnpike headlines the fest. I do have many friends who love the garbage that will be heard at CMA fest… and you know what? Not a single one of them owns a confederate flag.
June 6, 2022 @ 10:52 am
I am old fashioned. I still believe One Nation Under God. I love our American Flag. It’s beautiful. I don’t need a Trump Flag, no Biden Fag, no Confederate Flag. It’s a CMA. It’s for MUSIC lovers everywhere. No Politics wanted or needed. Just want to hear Country Music. Disappointed Alan won’t sing, but health first. I want to have a good time without any hassles or distractions.
June 5, 2022 @ 5:39 pm
It’s not so much the Confederate Flag as being told that I can’t do something in this Country…. We still have rights to our own decisions according to law… and If I want to exploit my heritage by flying a Confederate Flag, I have the right to do so… You cannot erase History…. The Confederate flag is Never going away…..
June 6, 2022 @ 11:01 am
People today want to be seen and heard. They all think they are right. Not everyone gives a hoot about your politics. I don’t see it as being told what to do. It’s what not to do so people can enjoy without a ruckus. People today go too far. You need to be old enough to remember when going to a fair or festival was just about that. It’s what most people want today. Very tired of constantly stirring the pot. Go to Russia or China dressed in their flag and see how long your butt sits in jail. Just go and enjoy the festivities, or stay home and not ruin everyone else’s time.
June 6, 2022 @ 2:13 pm
Exactly what part of your heritage are you proud of? Enslaving human beings? Lynching? Jim Crow laws?
June 5, 2022 @ 6:26 pm
This article has nothing to do with the Confederate flag. If I wanted to have a discussion on the Confederate flag, I would have written an article about Stagecoach banning it, or CMA Fest banning it. But the truth is, nobody was going to bring a Confederate flag to these events anyway, so it was a performative move, and a moot point. I challenge anyone to produce a photo of a Confederate flag at either of these events over the last few years. They did this for attention, and everyone belleyaching about it is giving them exactly what they want. And your bellyaching—just like if you bring a Confederate flag to an event—will be used to call you a racist, this website racist, the entirety of country music racist, and America racist.
If you want to fight for the Confederate flag and reclaim it for heritage, how about you go fight all of the actual, verified racists that are parading it around for their cause, including people who’ve posed in front of it before murdering people because they’re black? That’s the reason the CMA banned it.
June 5, 2022 @ 7:57 pm
Trig,
I actually wanted to ask you if you thought Alan’s decision had anything to do with the flag, but I didn’t want to start an off topic discussion.
Anyways, since we’re here, aren’t you contradicting yourself?
You: “The CMA’s ban is performative.”
Also you: “…murdering people because they’re black. That’s the reason the CMA banned it.”
Also,
….”will be used to call you a racist, this website racist, the entirety of country music racist, and America racist.”…
Who cares what the offended upper middle-class white people think? As previously mentioned, I’m no fan of Democrat symbolism, but if there ever were a reason to fly that flag, offending communists would be it. Feed them what they hate.
…”If you want to fight for the Confederate flag and reclaim it for heritage,”….
Please stop this. Reclaim what? There is no heritage tied to that flag for poor, white, southern conservatives. There is only a fabricated heritage, invented in the 1960’s. You’re not doing anyone any favors by telling people to reclaim something they never had.
June 5, 2022 @ 8:27 pm
“Anyways, since we’re here…”
No, the point of this comment is that we’re NOT going to be here talking about the Confederate flag. It’s not the topic at hand, and the more attention it gets, the more the CMA wins.
As for my “contradiction,” it’s nothing of the sort. It’s pretty simple. When Dylann Roof took a bunch of photos with the Confederate flag, and then walked into a church and murdered 9 people, it cooked the goose for it. THAT is the reason the CMA and others are banning it. My point is nobody who would go to CMA Fest would be carrying a Confederate flag anyway. That’s what makes it performative.
June 6, 2022 @ 5:03 am
See, I completely agree with you that it’s performative, but I believe you’re off on the reason for the performance. Neither the CMA, nor any other corporation, could care less about black folks being murdered by a racist. This is 100% about pandering to upper middle-class whites. It’s about making it palatable to them, and gaining their approval. The CMA knows suburban whites are it’s target audience. It’s the exact same philosophy with the music itself.
June 6, 2022 @ 11:09 am
Despite Trigger’s squirming, dissembling, and censoring of one of my posts, it seems my post directing the CMA Fest to go straight to hell for banning the Confederate flag is more popular than any other post on this thread.
Wonder why that is, Trigger?
June 6, 2022 @ 12:04 pm
I don’t wonder about it at all. This was a non-issue, and nobody attending CMA Fest was going to be carrying a Confederate flag onto the grounds. By the CMA banning Confederate flags, they have stoked anger, created an issue where there wasn’t one before, and it’s likely you will see MORE Confederate flags similarly to how another commenter stated happened after NASCAR banned it.
June 11, 2022 @ 7:01 pm
The man has health issues..Maybe his Dr advised him to take it easy before his tour starts.
I don’t think not flying a confederate flag is the reason he dropped out.
Sad,he won’t be performing..I pray that he feels better soon..Enjoy concert..
June 5, 2022 @ 6:46 pm
No kidding about this article NOT being about the rebel flag. To the point of the article, as far as I’m concerned Jackson can do whatever he wants, as he has proven time and again, he’s not owned by anybody. Keeps releasing straight solid country, stands up for his beliefs and his friends, and isn’t afraid to give the top brass the middle finger. He’s the real deal and he can have any reason he likes to do whatever he wants. God bless him. Wish there were more like him.
June 5, 2022 @ 11:23 pm
I oppose the banning of Confederate Flags at country concerts or any event. My guess is they’d have no issue with a BLM, or DNC flag. Also my guess a MAGA hat or MAGA flag would get a ban. I love country music, but Im really not here for the industry and Nashville shoving PC virtue signaling nonsense down our throats, given that some, maybe even alot of us, arent “woke” and never intend to be. We are here for the music and the tunes. The freedom to fly any flag you want is a cornerstone of the music, and of our great Nation. Stagecoach banned the flags in April, and now CMA is doing it as well. Rubs me very wrong. Banning of the flags just guarantees people do it in private anyways. Banning a flag at an event just means that person has that flag at home. Country music is littered with artists who have flown and supported the flag, household names, Blake Shelton, among them, I dont see him flying it at shows anymore. I would guess he still supports the flying of it though. This is “woke” commie nonsense. And not why I listen to country music. In fact, I listen to it for the opposite values and political stances that CMA”s is supporting here.
June 6, 2022 @ 10:29 am
Ironically, by banning it, it will only get people who weren’t interested in flying it to bring one for attention.
As Ray Bradbury said about kids and reading? Want them to read? Ban books.
Hope Alan is OK.
June 6, 2022 @ 2:49 pm
I like all colors of people I love the world ???? ????
June 8, 2022 @ 3:05 am
People. You.people. The main crux, the only crux of this article is Alan Jackson and him pulling out. He isn’t linked to a flag, he isn’t associated to the flag, he has talked about health issues. Stop fucking shouting at shadows that aren’t there. Ridiculous.
June 10, 2022 @ 3:53 pm
The interesting thing to me is that his disorder is known as CMT….
June 11, 2022 @ 7:04 pm
Yes, he even mentioned that in his interview last year with Jenna Bush Hager on the Today show.
June 13, 2022 @ 6:29 am
I’d love to see ZERO Confederate flags ANYWHERE ( might that have something to do with my great-grandparents’ having been Maryland slaves ?) ,but hopefully Alan puts out another album before long.