Wanda Jackson Retires From Performing

Evan Minsker
“It has been a wild ride. Thank you all for all the years of continued fandom and support.”

Rockabilly icon Wanda Jackson has announced that she is retiring from live performances. The 81-year-old shared the news in the below Facebook statement. “This retirement is solely based on health and safety,” the statement reads. “It has been a wild ride. Thank you all for all the years of continued fandom and support. This is not the end, just the beginning of a new chapter. Join us as we congratulate the Queen of Rockabilly on over six decades of rip roaring live performances, priceless stories and countless shimmies.”

Jackson has been singing and recording since the early 1950s. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 as an early influence. In 2011, Jackson released a Jack White-produced album called The Party Ain’t Over. She followed that with 2012’s Unfinished Business.

Jackson appears on Pitchfork’s list of “The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s.”

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