This September, Alan Jackson will receive yet another award that lauds his G.O.A.T. status.
The Country Hall of Famer will be honored with the Kris Kristofferson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Nashville Songwriters Awards ceremony.
Each year, this award celebrates a songwriter whose work has “made a significant contribution to the American songbook and who has inspired the careers of others.” According to the website for the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), recipients are personally chosen by the award’s namesake, Kris Kristofferson.
Jackson is joining a small, elite group of country music legends who’ve received this honor. Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Bill Anderson, Garth Brooks and Bobby Braddock are the only other artists who’ve had this award bestowed on them.
What Qualifications Earned Alan Jackson His Kris Kristofferson Lifetime Achievement Award?
- Ever since the outset of his career in the early 1990s, Jackson has been one of the biggest stars and proponents of the neo-traditional country movement.
- As an artist, he has notched 26 No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits over the course of his career. He was also the pen behind many of those hits, including “Gone Country,” “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow” and more.
- He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.
The singer’s latest accolade comes during the same year that he’s planning to retire from touring. Jackson recently announced his Last Call: One More for the Road Tour. He’s framing that run as a finale of sorts, though he’s stopped short of calling it his final tour.
Jackson isn’t the only honoree at the upcoming Nashville Songwriters Awards. Buddy Cannon, a songwriter best known for his work with Willie Nelson and Kenny Chesney, will receive the NSAI President’s Keystone Award.
The 2024 Nashville Songwriters Awards will be held at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Sept. 24. Performers and ticketing information are expected to be announced soon.
Carena Liptak is an Associate Editor and staff writer at Taste of Country. She specializes in breaking country music news, interviews and lists. In particular, she’s got a soft spot for sad songs — check out her roundup of the 50 Saddest Country Songs of All Time!
