Country music icon Alan Jackson is down to just one show remaining on his farewell tour, and that is just days away.
Jackson is slated to play in Milwaukee on Saturday at the Fiserv Forum. And that is the last scheduled live show that the 66-year-old has planned for his career at the moment. There is always the possibility that Jackson could do a one-off show here or there, but the legendary singer has said he is retiring from the road.
Jackson revealed his reasons for deciding to retire last year, and a big part of the decision was family.
“I’ve been touring for over 30 years, you know, played everywhere in the country and parts of the world,” Jackson said. “Have had a wonderful career, and getting into my twilight years, and all my daughters are grown, and I got one grandchild and one on the way. Enjoy spending more time at home, and don’t want to be away like I had to be in my younger days, and I don’t tour as much now as I did 10 years ago. But I think it’s getting time to start thinking about hanging it up full-time.”
That’s not the only reason for ramping the career down, though. The singer has been dealing with a rare genetic condition called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. It is a chronic neuropathy condition that affects a person’s balance and ability to walk, and it apparently runs in his family. He cited that, too, while explaining why he was retiring this year.
“Most of my fans know I have a degenerative health condition that affects my legs and arms and my mobility that I got from my daddy and it’s getting worse,” he said. “So, it makes me more uncomfortable on stage, and I just have a hard time, and I just want to think about maybe calling it quits before I’m unable to do the job like I want to.”
So, if it looks like the singer is moving a bit slower, it is because he is. But he has been battling the issue for some time and did more than he had to in giving fans a final opportunity to see him live.