Country Stars Remember Michael Jackson
Thursday, July 9th, 2009Michael Jackson never made a country record, but his career transcended musical genres and inspired singers and musicians growing up in rural America and big cities alike. Ever since his death on June 25, members of the country music community have been sharing their feelings about the King of Pop.
Only a handful of country artists ever recorded with Jackson. Among them were Kenny Rogers and Willie Nelson, who were among the all-star cast contributing vocals to the 1986 recording of the charity project, “We Are the World,” a song written by Jackson and Lionel Richie.
After Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson was the most popular male country singer of the '90s. An heir to the new traditionalist movement of the '80s, Jackson's approach was rooted in classic honky tonk yet remained comfortably within the contemporary mainstream. Jackson's hallmark was consistency -- he wrote many of his own hits, and his way with a hook was part of the reason he never really hit a commercial dry spell, even into the new millennium.
