Alan Jackson cemented his place in Country Music history Wednesday (April 5) as it was announced that he is among the 2017 inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He’ll formally become a member during the Museum’s annual Medallion Ceremony on October 22, 2017.
Jackson will join the echelon of 130 of Country Music’s greatest names as this year’s Modern Era Artist inductee, joining alongside Veterans Era Artist inductee Jerry Reed and Songwriter inductee Don Schlitz. The 2017 inductees – the 57th group to be honored – were unveiled yesterday during a media-only press event at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, presided over by Hall of Fame member Vince Gill.
“It’s an honor,” a humble Jackson said after his name was revealed. “For me to say I’m honored sounds like the standard old response, but for a man who loves country music there is no higher honor. This is the mountain top!”
He went on to recount how, in recent years, he’s often found himself asked in interviews if there’s any unrealized dream or goal he has yet to attain. “I never say the Country Music Hall of Fame because I just felt like that was kind of pretentious to think that I deserve to be in there. But now I can say this is about the last dream on the list right here. It’s just unbelievable.”
“You look at that list – from Hank Williams on down to today – all the great people and heroes of yours…and you don’t feel like you fit in that much. At least I didn’t,” Jackson later noted. “It was hard to say, ‘I’m going to be in there one day.’ I couldn’t do that.”
In selecting Jackson for membership alongside the greatest names in the genre, the Country Music Association noted:
“With dozens of chart-topping singles, tens of millions of albums sold, and an un paralleled reputation as a singer and songwriter, he ranks with The Beatles, Elvis Presley and a very small handful of other transcendent artists who stand out like signposts in pop music history. He has blended the old and new in a musical style that is urban and rural, rugged and raw…he took the sounds of Country Music in his youth, and blended them with modern production in a way that made him an immediate star.”
“He straddled the lines between pop sensibilities and hardline affection for classic Country,” Gill told those gathered in the Country Music Hall of Fame Rotunda before adding, “Nobody has stuck up for Country Music more than this gentleman. Ever.”
Jackson’s membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame is the latest in a long line of career-defining accolades that include three CMA Entertainer of the Year honors, more than 25 years of membership in the Grand Ole Opry, a 2016 Billboard ranking as one of the Top 10 Country Artists of All-Time, induction to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Heritage Award as the most-performed country songwriter-artist of ASCAP’s first 100 years.
