Can you imagine Alan Jackson without his iconic cowboy hat?
Since he burst onto the scene in 1989, you very rarely see the legend without his signature cowboy hat. Whether he’s wearing a suit and tie or a t-shirt and jeans, there’s probably a cowboy hat sitting on his head too. I mean, he even wore it while he was water-skiing.
But did you know that it’s not just a fashion choice? (An admittedly great one).
Apparently Alan decided to start wearing a cowboy hat way back in high school. And he did it because he was self-conscious about a scar on his forehead from his childhood.
Alan explained his cowboy hat in an interview with GQ:
“I tell you, I started off really when I was a teenager. I had a—and I still have it—a big scar on my forehead from when I ran through a glass door when I was little. And I was always self-conscious, so when I started singing in high school it kinda bothered me.
It was bigger and bolder then; I guess it’s kinda worn down over the years. I first started wearing a hat when I was about 17, my old brown cowboy hat. That’s the hat I wore to Nashville when I came.”
He also admitted that while there are some photos of himself out there without the cowboy hat, it’s usually just because he took it off for a quick second to say thank you or to greet someone – and he doesn’t like the way he looks without out.
“There’s a couple of them around where I’d raised my hat to say something, or I’m waving goodbye. My wife and people in the office have shown me some of those—some of them look pretty rough and some of them look pretty good. But yeah, I’ve just kinda gotten used to wearing them.”
So yeah, it’s rare to see Alan without his cowboy hat. And even when he’s not wearing the silverbelly cowboy hat, he’s usually got a ballcap on his head – like in this photo of himself with King George in the studio.
We have gotten a couple of peaks under the hat over the years, like during this performance from George Jones’ memorial service where he took off the hat to honor the Possum.
But it seems like the cowboy hat is here to stay – and it’s more than just a fashion choice.
Now if he would just bring back the mullet too…
