Country legend Alan Jackson is in the middle of his Last Call Tour.
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He announced the tour back in March, six months after revealing his diagnosis with the genetic degenerative nerve disease Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disorder. In a sit-down interview with the TODAY show’s Jenna Bush Hager, Jackson revealed he was diagnosed about ten years prior, saying, “I’ve been reluctant to talk about this publicly and to my fans, but I have this neuropathy – a neurological disease that’s genetic, I inherited it from my daddy. It’s been affecting me for years, and it’s becoming more and more obvious.”
The condition is not deadly, he said, but it does affect his balance and his ability to walk around the stage,
“It’s not going to kill me – it’s not deadly,” Jackson explained. “I know I’m stumbling around onstage, and now I’m having a little trouble balancing even in front of a microphone. I’m just very uncomfortable. I was starting to get so self-conscious up there…so if anybody’s curious why I don’t walk right, that’s why. I just wanted the fans and the public to know. I don’t want ’em to think I’m drunk onstage because I’m having problems with mobility and balance.”
If you’ve seen him on his Last Call Tour, you’ve seen him lean against a brace that his team built into the stage for him to lean against while standing in front of the microphone. He also walks around the stage a little wobbly, and always has a team member close by following him if he needs help. He has a bar stool nearby, but only uses it for one or two songs.
You can see him walk on stage and immediately lean on the brace in the video below.
He was scheduled to wrap up the tour with two shows on the east coast: Friday, October 7 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey and Saturday, October 8 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. But, according to announcements from each of the venues, the country legend is postponing both shows due to “health issues.”
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall’s official Twitter account revealed that the show on Friday (Oct 7) will be postponed and current tickets will be honored at the future date.
“This Friday’s show is being postponed,” they wrote. “The country music icon is dealing with some health issues related to his neurological condition.”
FRIDAY'S ALAN JACKSON’S CONCERT POSTPONED
Organizers Plan to Reschedule; All Tickets Will Be Honored
This Friday's show is being postponed. The country music icon is dealing with some health issues related to his neurological condition.
More @ https://t.co/4iNBZXMakN pic.twitter.com/LlapVaAaoi— Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall (@BoardwalkHall) October 4, 2022
Around the same time, PPG Paints Arena tweeted, “Alan Jackson’s concert at PPG Paints Arena scheduled for this Saturday 10/8 is being postponed. Alan is dealing with health issues related to the neurological condition (Charcot-Marie-Tooth or CMT). Organizers plan to reschedule, all tickets will be honored for future show date.”
Alan Jackson’s concert at PPG Paints Arena scheduled for this Saturday 10/8 is being postponed. Alan is dealing with health issues related to the neurological condition (Charcot-Marie-Toothn or CMT). Organizers plan to reschedule, all tickets will be honored for future show date. pic.twitter.com/BmhdkbYw3t
— PPG Paints Arena (@PPGPaintsArena) October 4, 2022
PPG Paints Arena revealed that the rescheduled show will be in 2023, but didn’t have an exact date.
According to TribLive, Jackson released the following statement:
“I hoped I’d be able to be there; I hate to disappoint my fans. I tried as much as I could to play this show at this time.”
We will pray for Alan Jackson and hope he will get back to the stage soon! Watch him perform “Mercury Blues,” which has served as his encore performance at each tour stop, below.