Alan Jackson to Receive Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award
Alan Jackson is being honored as the 2022 recipient of the Country Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. One of the top honors in country music, the Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2012 with Willie Nelson as the inaugural recipient. Alan Jackson will be on hand at the 56th Annual CMA Awards on November 9th to accept the award.
Jon Pardi, Lainey Wilson, Dierks Bentley, and Carrie Underwood will perform in tribute to Alan Jackson as part of the presentation, and hopefully, Alan Jackson will too. He will become only the eighth country artist to receive the award. Along with Willie Nelson, other recipients include Kenny Rogers (2013), Johnny Cash (2015), Dolly Parton (2016), Kris Kristofferson (2019), Charley Pride (2020), and Loretta Lynn (2021).
With three CMA Entertainer of the Year awards, 35 #1 hits, and over 60 million albums sold including 9 multi-Platinum albums, Alan Jackson makes for a worthy recipient of the award. Jackson has received over 150 individual awards in his career, including being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017.
Alan Jackson confirmed in September of 2021 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. It’s not life threatening, nor does it affect longevity. But it has affected Jackson’s ability to stand and move around. Alan Jackson headed out on his “Last Call Tour” earlier this summer, but has had to cancel numerous dates, including at CMA Fest in June.
Alan Jackson won’t be the only country legend to be toasted at the 2022 CMA Awards on November 9th. The presentation will open with a tribute to Loretta Lynn, who passed away on October 4th. No word as of yet about who will participate in the tribute.
October 30, 2022 @ 1:30 pm
Significant in that a post-Garth (by a tad) artist is given a “prestigious” award before it’s been given to Garth.
October 30, 2022 @ 2:30 pm
I’m very confused about how the CMA are suddenly stating that they gave this award to Loretta in 2021 because I don’t remember there being any mention of it during their actual awards ceremony last year and I can’t find any articles announcing her as a recipient at the time. Usually they do a tribute performance or would at least bring it up?
October 30, 2022 @ 3:22 pm
It was revealed on a Live stream that was later rebroadcasted on the Peacock streaming app during a Circle Network commercial
October 30, 2022 @ 3:34 pm
Why is Underwood in EVERY tribute? The female Vince Gill?
October 30, 2022 @ 4:52 pm
Sheryl Crow must be busy that night. Trying to figure out which AJ song Carrie Underwood will over sing.
October 30, 2022 @ 5:15 pm
Bill,
Good one.
October 30, 2022 @ 6:15 pm
Bill, seriously?
You know Underwood will only sing 1 AJ song… And that one song will be “Remember When”. There’s literally no other option for Carrie.
October 30, 2022 @ 7:16 pm
Ha ha yeah with lots of extra warbling!
October 31, 2022 @ 9:46 am
Glad I’m not the only one who never glomed onto Underwood because of her bellowing thru the entire damn song.
November 1, 2022 @ 3:53 pm
Who is Underwood?
October 30, 2022 @ 5:15 pm
Bill,
Good one.
October 30, 2022 @ 7:29 pm
Why are people so catty?
October 30, 2022 @ 7:46 pm
It’s the internet in 2022. We all want to eat each other apparently…
October 31, 2022 @ 2:48 pm
Because haters gonna hate.
Every.Single. Time.
October 30, 2022 @ 8:31 pm
Bringing out the Big Guns that if you forced their feet to the fire couldn’t name 5 non radio songs from him GARBAGE much like whatever that AOTY was suppose to be
October 31, 2022 @ 7:54 am
No way any one at that event knows “Dog River Blues” or “Short Sweet Ride.”
October 31, 2022 @ 7:33 pm
Pretty sure that’s why he sung Chattahoochee at AOTY show so camera could pan to other current acts making it look like they followed his whole career
October 30, 2022 @ 11:19 pm
I’m just happy there’ll be some actual country music performed on the CMA’s.
October 31, 2022 @ 12:06 am
If we can assume that they’re restricting the Lifetime Achievement award to artists who rermain alive–as all but one of the past honorees have been at the time that their award was issued–then the next honoree will be Reba or Strait.
(I’d lay odds on that pair vs. the field.)
October 31, 2022 @ 9:26 am
Why hasn’t it been given each year since its inception? Anyone know? Legitimately curious. Thanks,
October 31, 2022 @ 9:37 am
There is a host of CMA Awards beyond the annual awards that are not given out each year. There is also The Irving Waugh Award of Excellence, a humanitarian award, a journalism award, and a couple of others. I actually think it’s good they don’t give these out each year so that way it doesn’t feel perfunctory. Make it special. Though it does appear they’ve been giving them out more regularly lately. You can see a list of all the “special” awards and the winners here:
https://www.cmaworld.com/industry-honors/#willie-nelson-lifetime-achievement-award
October 31, 2022 @ 9:47 am
There is a list of artists who deserve this before him.
October 31, 2022 @ 10:58 am
I agree that there is a list of artists that deserve this award alongside him but I don’t agree that there is a list of artists that deserve the award before AJ. The man is a legend.
October 31, 2022 @ 12:12 pm
Merle Haggard, George Strait??
October 31, 2022 @ 1:20 pm
So the performer had to “achieve international prominence and stature through
– concert performances
– humanitarian efforts
– philanthropy
– record sales
– public representation at the highest level.”
Not saying Alan Jackson doesn’t but there’s no question several other artists checked all those boxes before he did. In addition to Haggard and Strait, definitely Vince Gill and Alabama should get this.
October 31, 2022 @ 2:34 pm
This is a friggin’ made-up award, designed to fulfill a change in tempo for the CMA program, where they shift from performances by all the hot current stars to a lookback where everyone gets to cheer and honor a hero from the prior generation.
It wouldn’t do any good to honor Haggard, who’s dead, or Alabama, which is out of the public eye and not that individually recognizable. (Yes, they gave it to Cash, who was dead, but Cash is a strange exception because he became such a multi-generational cultural phenomenon in the years after his death.)
Jackson’s the guy. He’s a stalwart for tradional country, a lot of the current stars say they grew up listening to him, he still looks like a movie star, and he has those tragedies that are the stuff of tearjerkers–the death of his newlywed son-in-law in a fluke accident and his own battle with a neurological disease that hampers his ability to perform.
October 31, 2022 @ 10:46 am
@trig–Gee, why did they change the name of the “Connie B. Gay” Award, just when such a name would be likely to win plaudits and brownie points in the new Nashville?
November 1, 2022 @ 12:53 pm
I’m so glad that Alan Jackson is receiving this well-deserved award when he is still here with us to enjoy it. I also wish that Merle, George, Waylon, and other greats had received such an award in their lifetimes. They deserved it at least as much, but I’m not going to let my views on that matter keep me from relishing this moment of recognition for Mr. Jackson, who has always been, and who remains, a great, traditional country singer and songwriter.