The two-time Grammy winning artist performed his final roadshow in Milwaukee as he continues to battle CMT, a chronic neuropathy condition.
Country singer-songwriter Alan Jackson formally
ended his touring career with a farewell concert after more than 30 years on the road.
The 66-year-old performed his final sold-out road show during his “Last Call: One More for the Road” tour in Milwaukee on May 17.
“Y’all may have heard that I’m kinda winding down. In fact, this is my last roadshow of my career,” he
told the crowd. “I appreciate it. Y’all gonna make me tear up out here.
“It’s been a long, sweet ride; it started 40 years ago this September. My wife and I drove to Nashville with an old U-Haul trailer and chased this dream,” he said.
“It’s been a crazy ride. I lived the American dream, for sure. So blessed. Thank you all so much for all your support of my music and for attending my shows.”
The decision comes after the two-time Grammy-winning artist
announced last year that he would be retiring from the road, after being diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) in 2011, a chronic neuropathy condition.
According
to the Mayo Clinic, CMT is a hereditary genetic condition that causes nerve damage, primarily affecting muscles in the feet and legs.
Jackson first came forward about living with the disease during an
appearance on the Today show in 2021, and wanted to use the concert as a way for fans to see and hear his “best-loved” songs in person for the last time.
“It’s genetic that I inherited from my daddy. There’s no cure for it, but it’s been affecting me for years. And it’s getting more and more obvious,” he said at the time.
“I know I’m stumbling around stage now,” he added. “I’m having a little trouble balancing, even in front of the microphone. I just feel very uncomfortable.”
Jackson, best known for his hits “Chattahoochee,“ ”Gone Country,“ ”She’s Got the Rhythm (And I Got the Blues),“ and ”Wanted,” among many others, first embarked on his farewell tour in the summer of 2022.
A dollar from every ticket sold during the tour was donated
to the CMT Research Foundation, a patient-led nonprofit that is dedicating funds to treatment options and research in hopes of finding a cure.
Despite closing out the tour, Jackson reaffirmed to fans that one more show is in the works, teasing plans for a “big finale show” in Nashville next summer.
“We just felt like we had to end it all where it all started, and that’s in Nashville, Tennessee–Music City–where country music lives. I gotta do the last one there,” he
said. “This is the last one out on the road for me.”
