Everything Alan Jackson Has Said About His Battle With Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease
usmagazine.comCountry superstar Alan Jackson has been battling Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease for more than a decade, but he didn’t go public with his diagnosis until September 2021.“I have this neuropathy and neurological disease,” the Country Music Hall of Fame member explained during a Today show interview at the time. “It’s genetic that I inherited from my daddy. … There’s no cure for it, but it’s been affecting me for years.
And it’s getting more and more obvious.”Abbreviated as CMT, Charcot-Marie-Tooth is a hereditary disorder that affects the nervous system, causing progressive loss of muscle tissue and loss of sensation in the arms and legs.
Patients may also experience trouble balancing and difficulty walking.As Jackson explained during his Today appearance, the disease doesn’t shorten life expectancy, but it can make movement extremely difficult — especially for a person used to performing on stage night after night.“I’ve been reluctant to talk about this publicly and to my fans,” the “Chattahoochee” singer explained when revealing his battle with the disorder, which also affected his grandmother and sister. “It’s called CMT, ironically enough, because CMT was a big part of my career.”The Grammy winner released his debut album, Here in the Real World, in 1990, eventually becoming one of the most successful country stars of all time.
He has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and has been named the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year three times.Throughout his career, he’s had wife Denise Jackson by his side.
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