The Country Music Hall of Famer plays his final road show
“Y’all may have heard that I’m kinda winding down. In fact, this is my last road show.” With those words, Alan Jackson made it official – a touring career that has taken his catalog of true country music from coast-to-coast countless times…crossed Canada from sea-to-sea…and even made its way to such far-reaching places as Australia, Brazil, and Europe…is nearing its end. But not until he stages a “big finale” next year in Nashville.
His announcement was met by an overwhelming wave of cheers and applause from the sold-out crowd at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum – the latest in a string of sellout and capacity concerts on his Last Call: One More for the Road Tour, which began in 2022. “Y’all are gonna make me tear up up here,” the icon admitted.
“It’s been a long, sweet ride. It started 40 years ago this September,” he shared, recalling the trek he and his wife Denise made from rural Newnan, Georgia to Nashville with a U-Haul trailer in their rearview mirror. “I’ve really lived the American dream for sure – so blessed,” he said, echoing a sentiment he’s shared at every performance, as each marked his final time onstage in a city or state.
Though he may have poured out his final round of hits on the road, Jackson is planning to serve up a few more before walking off the concert stage forever. “We’re planning on doing a big finale show in Nashville next summer sometime,” he told the Wisconsin audience, echoing a hint he made three weeks ago in Tampa when he acknowledged, “This is our last year of major touring,” and said he had a “finale show in Nashville next year” in the works.
“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, while stating with clarity, “This is the last one out on the road for me.”
Jackson’s Saturday concert was as robust as any in recent years. Those present were treated to more than three decades of country music in the form of nearly two-dozen songs that included unplanned additions to the setlist (the chart-topping “Wanted”…“I’d Love You All Over Again,” dedicated to his wife in the audience…and a bit of the Jerry Lee Lewis classic “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)” on the heels of “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”).
Emotions ran high throughout the show. Each song was met with such lengthy applause that the concert ran much later than usual. Signs brought in by fans filled the arena, captured throughout the performance by Jackson’s camera team. And the room was filled with nearly 14,000 people singing in accompaniment on virtually every song.
Jackson – who announced in 2019 that he’s living with a neurological disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth – donated a portion of every ticket sale to the CMT Research Foundation. Now that all is said and done, over $2.25-million dollars were directly and indirectly raised by the tour through donations, matching contributions and efforts, and other revenue inspired by Jackson and the tour…all while also amplifying awareness and understanding of the condition.
“I just have to thank y’all for supporting my music all these years, coming to the shows, buying the records and having a good time with us,” Jackson says. “I’m so fortunate, so lucky.”
