Together, “Gone Country” and Who I Am elevated Jackson from a contemporary country star to a legend. The album, and its unexpected hit, led Jackson to winning the 1995 CMA Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award, and was a key step to securing his future spot in the Country Music Hall of Fame, where he was inducted in 2017. A defender of tradition who wasn’t afraid to rock the jukebox, that was where Jackson was going all along even when he seemed to be hightailing a pick-up down a country road the opposite way.