Alan Jackson Reflects on "50"

When looking back on 2008, Alan Jackson seems to attribute much of the great times had with the number 50.  Jackson, who turned 50 in October, was recognized by his record label for the sales of 50 million albums.  "Right now at 50, you look back, and golly, there's no way I can remember all the places I've been and things I've done," Jackson said in an interview with The Fresno (Cali.) Bee.   Next year will mark Jackson’s 20th annivesary since he signed his first recording contract with Arista RecordsJackson moved to Nashville in the 1980s with the mindset that if he couldn’t make it as a Country Music artist, he’d move back to Georgia with no regrets.  “I was young and trying to get going,” he told The Fresno Bee.  “I didn't think that far into the future. At that point you're just trying to get on the map, get a hit song on the radio. It's such a gradual deal. Back then, I thought if you lasted three or four or five years, that would be a huge career. I never thought and said, ‘When I'm 50 years old, I'm going to have hits on the radio.’”