Three-time CMA Entertainer of the Year Alan Jackson was honored with a tribute performance by Dierks Bentley, Carrie Underwood, Jon Pardi, and Lainey Wilson ahead of receiving the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 CMA Awards.
Carrie Underwood; Photo Courtesy CMA
Carrie Underwood performed a brief, but tender rendition of Jackson’s “Remember When” before introducing the segment.
“The very first concert I ever went to was an Alan Jackson concert,” said Underwood, who went on to talk about Jackson’s influence on her and the country music industry as a whole.
Jon Pardi, Dierks Bentley, Lainey Wilson; Photo Courtesy CMA
Dierks Bentley joined the stage to perform the classic 90s hit “Chattahoochee” with a full band. Jon Pardi continued the medley with “Drive (For Daddy Gene),” inspiring Miranda Lambert and Luke Combs to sing along in the audience.
Newly crowned CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Lainey Wilson closed out the tribute by performing a rousing version of “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow.”
Honoree Alan Jackson then took the stage to a standing ovation and performed “Don’t Rock the Jukebox,” with fellow artists Keith Urban and Luke Combs spotted singing along in the crowd.
Underwood, Bentley, Pardi, and Wilson joined Jackson at the end of the song before he was officially presented the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.
Alan Jackson; Photo Courtesy CMA
Jackson has released more than 20 albums and collections—including forays into gospel and bluegrass—nine of which went multi-Platinum with 2 million or more in sales. Those albums have led to one of Country Music’s most decorated careers with three CMA Entertainer of the Year Awards (1995, 2002, 2003); two Grammy Awards; and membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry, the esteemed Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Jackson was given the first ASCAP Heritage Award (2014) by the performance rights organization, recognizing him as the most performed Country Music songwriter-artist of the last 100 years. Jackson has charted 35 No. 1 hits, sold nearly 60 million albums, and is among the genre’s most decorated and respected figures, with more than 150 awards.