Alan Jackson & Wife Denise Celebrate 43 Years Together In A True Country Music Love Story

December 15, 2022

Alan Jackson and wife Denise Jackson have been in love for four decades now, but the road hasn’t always been that easy. There were a lot of tears, mistakes, and betrayals along the way that almost brought them to their final stop. But as they say, a love that is meant to be will always find its way back home. And they did. Their love endured through all the pain, and they found themselves holding each other’s hands again onto the path of forgiveness and healing.

Photos Via Alan Jackson Facebook

The country music power couple's story is one that could be summed up in a country song! Alan and Denise’s love story started way back when they were teenagers in Newnan High School in Georgia. But unlike most, theirs started with a downright rejection. According to Alan Jackson, the first time he asked Denise for a date, she turned him down. After a couple of years, he tried again and luckily finally got a yes. He got her riding in his white Thunderbird convertible for their first date and the many dates that followed that.

And on December 15, 1979, that ‘yes’ to a first date finally turned into ‘I do’ till death do they part.

Six years later, the couple made their big move to Nashville in pursuit of Alan’s dream of building a career in country music. When they first came into the city, the couple lived in a crowded basement apartment. During the day, Alan would work in a mailroom, and then at night, he would be out playing his music. On the other hand, Denise worked as a flight attendant.

One fateful day, Denise spotted singer-songwriter Glen Campbell in the airport. She immediately approached him and told him about her husband, who was an aspiring country music artist. Campbell gave her his business card, and the next thing the couple knew, Alan was signing his first record deal. In 1990, Alan released his debut album ‘Here in the Real World,’ which turned out to be a great success, selling over two million copies! But that wasn’t the only good news as they also welcomed their first daughter Mattie Denise in the same year. And then three years later, another baby girl – Alexandra Jane “Ali” – arrived. Then in 1997, the couple again welcomed another daughter named Dani Grace.

Second Chapter: The Almost Break-Up

With Alan’s career rising to fame and his fortune continuing to grow, he decided to build his family a plantation-style mansion inspired by Tara from Gone with the Wind. But while it all seemed like a fairytale on the outside, everything was collapsing down on the inside. In 1997, after 18 years of marriage, the couple shocked everyone with the news of their separation.

In Denise’s tell-all 2007 book It’s All About Him: Finding The Love Of My Life, which she co-wrote with Elle Vaughn, she confessed that it was betrayal – Alan’s infidelities – that ultimately drove them home to their separation.

But her worst shattering moment led to the greatest blessings in her life. After their separation, she found a renewed connection and commitment to God and her Christian life, which gave her the strength to forgive her husband. The couple went into marital counseling and reconciled a year later.

Happily Ever After

Since then, the iconic couple has celebrated huge milestones. But Alan's advice is best wrapped up in this statement he gave to The Boot ""We get up in the morning and drink coffee together and talk, and I can't go to bed at night if she's downstairs watching television. We go to bed together, unless I'm out of town," he shares. "It's just little things I think that have helped us more than anything. If you can last until you're 40 years old, hopefully, you'll be mature enough to figure out the rest of the years."