On this date back in 2002, Mr. Alan Jackson was once again topping the charts.
Of all the songs AJ has put out through the years, for my money, none is better than “Drive (For Daddy Gene)”, the title track and second single from his 2002 album which topped the Billboard 200 for four weeks, but spent a total of 77 weeks on the chart.
That is a very impressive showing, but clocks in as just his 7th best performance for an album, which does nothing more than exemplify the power he’s held in country music for a long, long time.
The album’s lead single was “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)”, written in response to the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks the previous year. It was the highest debut single of his career, spending 5 weeks atop the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
The success of the lead single pushed record executives to accelerate the release of the album, as the demand for singles (Still physically manufactured at the time) could not be met. Drive was released on January 15th, 2002, as is still regarded as some of AJ’s best work.
It also featured songs like “That’d Be Alright” and “Designated Drinker”, which featured The King, George Strait, and was certified 4x Platinum by RIAA in May of 2003.
Tip of the hat to the great Alan Jackson.
