Alan Jackson Cherished His Relationship With His Father

As a young Georgia boy, Alan Jackson grew up in a small home built around his grandfather’s toolshed. At one point, his bed was in the hallway because the house didn’t have enough rooms. They made up for their family’s lack of money or material things with love.

Jackson remained extremely close to both his parents until both of their deaths. His father passed in 2000, and his mother in early 2017.

He knew his father as a hard-working parent, which he mimicked in his adult life

Jackson Dedicated An Entire Album To His Father

A couple years after Jackson’s father, who he called “Daddy Gene,” passed away, he released “Drive (For Daddy Gene),” off his 2002 album Drive.

Other songs on the album included “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” “Work in Progress.” and “That’d Be Alright.”

In the first verse of “Drive,” Jackson sings about his memories as a child driving around the countryside with his father in an old beat up truck that they fixed together. He follows it up with a story of the two men taking a boat out on the lake together. In the final verse, the song comes full-circle as he sings about times when he has taken his own daughters driving in his Jeep.

The music video shows illustrations of the plot with scenes of a father and son driving around in a truck and a speedboat. The video ends with Jackson and his three daughters driving in his Jeep, followed by a sweet photo of a young Jackson with his “Daddy Gene” in a boat when he was a kid.

The music video for this song won Jackson an ACM Award for Music Video of the Year and the album won Album of the Year.

Watch the music video for “Drive” below.