Alan Jackson’s Final Concert: His Past Label Heads ‘Remember When’ They Worked With the Country Superstar
Categoria: Musica
The star's final live show is set for Nashville's Nissan Stadium on June 27. In this week's Country Update lead story, four execs look back on his career.
Por Billboard | 26/06/2026
He has always been notably quiet in person and has seldom had a lot to say from stage. But big speeches weren’t what people have wanted from Alan Jackson . They wanted the songs: “Drive (For Daddy Gene),” “Chattahoochee,” “Don’t Rock the Jukebox,” “Remember When,” “Small Town Southern Man,” “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” Those titles spoke volumes about Jackson as a singer-songwriter, and about the fans he served. Related Alan Jackson Sets ‘Finale’ Concert in Nashville: ‘Just Felt Like We Had to End It All Where It All Started’ 21 Music Legends Developed, Signed or Boosted by Clive Davis’ Golden Touch Ella Langley, Old Dominion to Headline Alan Jackson’s Inaugural 5 O’Clock Somewhere Fest Jackson caps his concert career Saturday (June 27) at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium with Last Call: One More for the Road — The Finale, a show that serves as a milestone in the Country Music Hall of Fame member’s career and a nostalgic reminder of his substantial body of work. But just as importantly, it highlights his influence. More than 35 years after Jackson reached the national spotlight, the ‘90s country that he helped define — marked by strong hooks, proud lower- and middle-class stories and an unapologetic use of fiddle and steel guitar — is hot. “Last Call” will feature appearances by a bundle of younger artists who took the baton, including Riley Green , Cody Johnson , Lainey Wilson , Eric Church , Miranda Lambert , Lee Ann Womack and Luke Combs , just to name a few. They’re not the only music folks who’ll be on hand. The stadium will also welcome the four executives who headed the labels that oversaw his releases prior to this year: Tim DuBois , who signed Jackson to Arista Nashville; Joe Galante , who worked with him when a restructuring placed Arista under the RCA Label Group umbrella and, later, under Sony BMG; Mike Dungan , who signed him to Capitol Nashville; and Cindy Mabe , who succeeded Dungan at Universal Music Group Nashville (now MCA). They collectively see Jackson as a key voice for the nation’s heartland. “I call him the Norman Rockwell of country music,” DuBois says. “He just paints a picture that is so relatable to middle-class America.” Jackson has amassed 26 No. 1 singles on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs among 50 top 10 singles, deftly using everyday language and unpretentious musical construction to create a bond with the genre’s listeners. He avoided gimmickry and never overplayed the emotional content in his material. Instead, he delivered his stories with sincerity and respect, using those tales as his primary means of communication. He could acknowledge commitment and economics in the same chorus — as he did when he sang “Livin’ on love, buyin’ on time” — capture intimacy in the lines of “When Somebody Loves You” and laugh at rejection in “She’s Got the Rhythm (And I Got the Blues),” the latter co-written with fellow traditionalist Randy Travis. Jackson con