Two-time Grammy Award-winning country star Alan Jackson is coming to Wilmington in April for a concert during the 2015 N.C. Azalea Festival.
Azalea Festival officials announced Monday that Jackson was an official festival performer. Jackson’s website has the singer-songwriter playing Cape Fear Community College on April 9, 2015, with Jon Pardi and Brandy Clark. The Azalea Festival has staged large open-air concerts in a CFCC parking lot near the Schwartz Center on North Front Street for the last two years.
Tickets for the concert, priced at $49.50 each, go on sale at 10 a.m. Nov. 8 through the festival website.
The Wilmington appearance will be part of Jackson’s “Keepin’ It Country” tour, celebrating his 25th year in the music business. A native of Newman, Ga., Jackson, 56, signed as a songwriter with Glen Campbell’s production company in 1986, and in 1989 became Arista/Nashville’s first country artist. Thirty-five of his singles have been No. 1 Billboard country hits, including “I’d Love You All Over Again,” “She’s Got the Rhythm (and I’ve Got the Blues),” “Chattahoochee” and “Right on the Money.” “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning,” his tribute to the heroes of 9/11, became a mainstream hit.
Jackson’s industry awards include two Grammys, 17 Country Music Association Awards and 15 Academy of Country Music Awards.
He has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1991, when he was inducted by Roy Acuff and Randy Travis.
Joining Jackson will be Pardi, a Capitol Records star known for his Top 10 country hit “Up All Night,” and Clark, a songwriter who has provided hits for Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Darius Rucker and others.
Ben Steelman is a reporter with the Jacksonville Daily News. He can be reached at Localdesk@JDNews.com.