ABC Radio In 2017, Alan Jackson will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and coincidentally, the Georgia native owes his start in the music business to another Hall of Famer, Glen Campbell.
When Alan was just beginning, his wife Denise worked as a flight attendant, and a chance airport encounter with the “Rhinestone Cowboy” eventually led to a songwriting contract for Alan with his publishing company.
“That’s when it really kinda hit me…,” Alan says of the highest honor in country music, “I got the list and started going through all the artists that are in here, and I saw Glen’s name…”
“Most of those are just heroes of mine,” he adds, “… and you just don’t feel like you’re worthy to be in here with ‘em. I mean it’s just crazy to think that your name and your face will be on that wall from now on.”
Alan is thankful he got to reflect on his success with Glen, long before the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s ravaged his memory.
“Back before he got sick,” Alan recalls, “he was, I think, surprised at how well things went for me.”
“… In the beginning, I didn’t really know him that well,” he goes on. “It was really more his guy at the office that ran his publishing company that helped me. I’d see Glen come through Nashville once every year or two and he’d say hi, but I don’t think he even knew my name. You know that’s just the way it is. But I think he was surprised to see it happen so big,” he reflects.
Alan will join the legendary ranks of the Hall in October, during a Medallion Ceremony at the CMA Theater. Glen was inducted back in 2005.
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.