The fans loved it, and that’s all that matters.
George Jones is country music royalty, one of the greatest country singers of all time and a legend in every sense of the word. So when the CMA Awards decided in 1999 that he would only have one minute to perform his then-Single of the Year nominated song “Choices,” the Possum decided he didn’t need the CMA Awards anyway – and decided to stay home.
The disrespect from the CMA Awards came in the later years of a career that saw Jones score fourteen #1 hits and an incredible 143 top 10s – a career that deserved more than the opportunity to perform more than an abridged version of his song.
And Alan Jackson thought so too.
Jackson, who was up for Male Vocalist of the Year, was scheduled to perform his then-current single “Pop a Top.” And he did perform his own song…before abruptly stopping after the first chorus and breaking into “Choices.”
It was a clear middle finger to the CMA Awards for disrespecting George Jones, and it was one that meant a lot to Jones himself.
Whiskey Riff recently spoke to Nancy Jones, the widow of the legendary George Jones, and asked her about that iconic moment in CMA Awards history. And Nancy recalled George refusing to even watch the show until his friend Alan performed:
“George was in his room…and he said, I’m not watching it tonight…
I said, ‘Well, I’m gonna watch it in here.’ He said, ‘Well, turn it down because I don’t want to hear it.'”
Can’t blame him for that one.
But when Jackson came on, George joined his wife Nancy to watch – and they were stunned by Jackson’s decision to flip the bird to the awards show:
“George, he liked to fell out of the chair. He said, ‘Oh, my God! That boy’s gonna be in so much trouble! They’ll never play his songs again. They’re going to kick him off the awards show.’…
George was laughing and clapping. He’s like, ‘That’s my boy.'”
Jones then called Jackson immediately after the performance to thank him for what he had done:
“He called him on the phone while he was in the dressing room. ‘Son, son, you shouldn’t have done that, son. You’re going to get in trouble.’ And he said, ‘Man, I appreciate you doing that. But, Alan, I don’t want you to get in trouble.’
He said, ‘I don’t care, I don’t care.'”
Amen.
Well obviously the protest didn’t really hurt Alan’s career any, and it gave George Jones the respect that he deserved. And Alan himself discussed why he did it shortly after the performance:
“I was glad to do it. I felt strongly about it, and I know I’ve been on awards shows for 10 years, and they’ve been real good to me. And I’ve had to fight to try to do my whole song. They ask most artists at one time or another to reduce your song, and it’s not unusual. And people say, ‘Well everybody has to do that.’
But George Jones isn’t everybody. That’s why I felt strongly about it, that he deserved a little more than everybody else… It deserved a little more respect.”
Yes he did. And that’s just what Alan gave him.
The 2024 CMA Awards return tonight, November 20, airing on ABC live from Bridgestone Arena here in Nashville at 8pm eastern/7pm central. But I’m sure we won’t get any iconic moments like this one.
