Alan Jackson hit the stage for a rather emotional performance at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Thursday, May 8 in Frisco, Texas.
The 66-year-old country singer, who has been battling health struggles the past few years, performed his classic “Remember When” for the crowd.
“Alan Jackson has me in shambles,” one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Another wrote, “Alan Jackson making me cry with his performance is something.”
Jackson revealed he was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth. According to the Mayo Clinic, the “disease is a group of inherited disorders that cause nerve damage.” This damage is mostly in the arms and legs and “results in smaller, weaker muscles,” “loss of sensation and muscle contractions, and difficulty walking.” In fact, “foot deformities such as hammertoes and high arches also are common.”
“It’s been affecting me for years, and it’s getting more and more obvious,” Jackson told Jenna Bush Hager on the Today show in 2021. “And I know I’m stumbling around on stage and now I’m having a little trouble balancing even in front of the microphone, and so I just feel very uncomfortable, and I just want people to know that’s why I look like I do.”
Despite his health struggles, he didn’t miss a beat. In fact, Jelly Roll couldn’t help but fangirl over the country legend. “We are sitting next to Alan Jackson- I’m about to freakkkk out… my wife and I are big time fan girling,” he wrote on X.
He also became the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which will become known as the ACM Alan Jackson Lifetime Achievement Award.
“The emotion ofAlan Jackson was palpable upon receiving the #ACMawards Lifetime Achievement Award,” one fan wrote on X.
The award recognizes “an iconic artist, duo, or group that has achieved both national and international prominence and stature through concert performances, philanthropy, record sales, streaming numbers, and public representation,” according to the Academy of Country Music. “The artist receiving this award has positively impacted and contributed to the genre’s growth over the years, which have proven to have an unprecedented historical impact on fans and industry nationally and internationally.”
Alan Jackson received a standing ovation during the #ACMAwards pic.twitter.com/8D2zXGFnT8
— The Country Wire (@TheCountryWire) May 9, 2025
