Alan Jackson Refused To Finish His Track 'Pop A Top' At 1999's CMA Awards

Jun 29, 2020

Like many other artists before him, Alan Jackson has always admired George Jones as an outstanding musical talent. However, these two shared a personal connection as friends as well. In fact, Jones even made a cameo with his wife in one of Jackson’s music videos, titled Good Time.

At the CMA Awards in 1999, Alan Jackson was set to perform his song Pop A Top. However, in honor of George Jones, he refused to finish his own song and instead performed a cover of Jones' track Choices, after Jones had declined to play the awards ceremony due to a disagreement with the organizers. The bold move has gone down in country music history ever since.

After his good friend, unfortunately, passed away in 2013, Jackson got up on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry during the funeral and performed a song so sad that it moved everyone to tears. The song is called He Stopped Loving Her Today, and Jackson was honored to perform during the event. But this isn’t the first time that Jackson paid homage to his dear friend and colleague. In 1999, Jackson orchestrated one of the best pop culture moments in all of country music.

During this year, the two talented singers Jones and Jackson were at the peak of their careers. Jones’ album was one of the best of the year and was at the top of the country music charts. The album was such a big success partially thanks to the song Choices, which became a radio hit everywhere around the country and he even won a Grammy award for performing it. Because the song was so popular at the time, the Country Music Awards asked him to perform the song but they only had a limited time slot which allowed for a shortened version of the song. Jones refused to shorten his track and stayed home from the awards show. However, his good friend Jackson stepped in to perform at the show, where he pulled a stunt that will be remembered for decades!

Jackson knew that Jones wasn’t allowed to sing the full version of his amazing song Choices, and since his friend declined to attend the ceremony he knew that he needed to make sure that this friend was recognized and celebrated in some way. In the middle of performing his own song, he completely changed tune and decided to sing none other than Jones’ song Choices, which was responded to with applause and cheers from the crowd. When the song was over, Jackson simply walked off the stage without taking the time to enjoy the applause from the audience. It is rumored that Jones was watching the performance at home and was moved to tears from the generous stunt pulled by his good friend. 

What do you think about Jackson’s bold move? Do you think it was a protest against the CMA for their treatment of his friend? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass this along to all music lovers out there!