Alan Jackson Stopped His Song at the CMA Awards — What He Sang Was for George Jones

On September 22, 1999, Alan Jackson stopped his own song at the CMA Awards and sang another man's instead. The song was George Jones's "Choices." Jones was at home, watching, because the Country Music Association had offered him only a shortened version of it. So what did the CMA do to George Jones, why did Jackson stop in the middle of "Pop a Top," and what did he know about that song that most of the audience did not? In this documentary-style story, we follow "Choices" from the songwriter Billy Yates, who says he wrote it for Alan Jackson, to George Jones's comeback year after his 1999 crash, to the night at the Grand Ole Opry House when Jackson turned a performance into a tribute. We look at Jones's own words about what it meant to him, Jackson's explanation, and what happened afterward, including the album Under the Influence, the song "Murder on Music Row," and the way Jackson sang for Jones again at his funeral in 2013. You will hear: How "Choices" was written, and why Billy Yates says it was meant for Alan Jackson Why George Jones refused to perform a shortened version at the CMA Awards What Jackson did on stage, and why the accounts of that night differ What Jones said about it, and how he thanked Jackson later How the song kept living, from Bettye LaVette to Leonard Cohen Where accounts conflict, we say so. The details come from published interviews, news coverage and music-industry reporting, and we try to separate documented facts from later memories. If you grew up with classic country radio, or you simply love the great voices of country music, this story is for you. Subscribe for more stories about George Jones and the history of country music, and tell us in the comments if you remember watching this night on television.