Alan Jackson Says Real Country Music Is ‘Gone — And It’s Not Coming Back’

Alan Jackson is disappointed with the current state of country music, and spoke his mind during an interview with Hits Daily Double.

“Country music is gone — and it’s not coming back,” he declared.

“It’s like the 1980s again. I’m 62 years old; I’m not some 30-year-old stud. It’s not the same, but somebody has to bring it back, because it’s not just people in their 50s, it’s people in their 20s, too,” the country star proclaimed.

RELATED: Alan Jackson Announces First New Album In Six Years, ‘Where Have You Gone’

“All the kids and young people around my house? The older they’ve got, the more hardcore and traditional what they’ve leaned into has become. It’s not old-school, it’s the real school. And I’m kinda pissed off… about what’s happened to the format, or whatever they wanna call it,” he added.

“Real country songs are life and love and heartache. They’re drinking, singing about Mama and having a good time, sad things, fun things,” he said.

Promoting his new album Where Have You Gone, his first release in six years, Jackson said he wanted a sound that was authentic. “It reflects the sounds of the instruments I grew up on, steel and acoustic guitar, the fiddle and the way they all came together,” he said of his album. “It gave you a sound, but also a real feeling or emotions no other music really had.”

Meanwhile, Jackson is also resigned to expect none of his new songs will be getting any airplay on country radio.

“I probably won’t be on radio. My songs probably won’t get played on radio, and I’m not bitter about it at all. It’s just what it is. I’m too old for today’s hot new country,” he said in a different interview, with Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music’s “Today’s Country Radio” set to air Friday, May 14 at 8 a.m. ET.

“I’m not bitter about it. I don’t care. But it just takes pressure off of you,” he explained. “Don’t have to worry about, do I need to try to record something for radio? Try to get on radio or singles. I’ve won every award multiple times, most of them. And I’m proud of that, but I don’t care if I get nominated for anything. I don’t care if it’s on the radio. And it’s not sounding mean, it’s just the truth. I just wanted to make the kind of music I love and I know most of my fans love.”

What do you think?