Watch the video at the end of this article.
Introduction
When George Strait and Alan Jackson took the stage at the 2013 CMA Awards to honor George Jones, time itself seemed to stand still. Their performance of “He Stopped Loving Her Today” wasn’t just a song—it was a moment of reverence, where the very soul of country music was laid bare.
Projected behind them were images of Jones tenderly embracing his beloved wife, Nancy. As Brad Paisley poignantly remarked, “We’d have lost the Possum a lot sooner if not for Nancy.” Those words carried as much weight as the harmonies flowing from Strait and Jackson, reminding the audience that George Jones’s story was not only about music, but about love, redemption, and resilience.
The 1980 ballad that once saved Jones’s faltering career became, in that moment, a hymn of gratitude. Strait and Jackson, two giants themselves, carried the torch of a genre indebted to the Possum. Their voices intertwined with the history of country music, preserving Jones’s immortality in what many call “country heaven.”
It was more than a tribute—it was a passing of legacy. And for those who witnessed it, the night wasn’t about loss, but about eternal remembrance, where George Jones still sings, through the voices of those he inspired.