Alan Jackson is no stranger to theatrics. He is known for his massive 90s country hits, but his music videos had plenty of further draws. Jackson took the theatrics one step further for his 1997 “Who’s Cheatin’ Who” music video.
While the actual content of the video is not really related to the lyrics of the song, we are certainly not complaining.
Jackson’s video for the hit song is racing themed, featuring NASCAR footage and even former racecar driver Bill Elliott. Like Joe Diffie, we know Alan Jackson is something of a Pickup Man himself. So of course, the video includes him cruising into the middle of a NASCAR race in his red Ford truck.
However, that isn’t even the best part of the video. Jackson eventually swaps his pickup truck for a monster truck, which he takes onto the track and jumps over several cars with. Jackson got to drive the famed monster truck Bigfoot. Of course, Jackson was sporting his signature cowboy hat with his majestic mullet the whole time. Take a look at the epic video below.
“Who’s Cheatin’ Who” is actually a cover. The original, by Charly McClain, reached the top of the charts in 1981. Jackson covered it in 1997 and took the song all the way back to no. 2 on the charts.
Jackson is no stranger to singing songs about cheating, in addition to this one. “She Just Started Liking Cheatin’ Songs” reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart for John Anderson. Much like “Who’s Cheatin’ Who,” Jackson covered Anderson’s song in 1999. it reached no. 72 on the charts without it being a single.
The Other Notable Alan Jackson Music Video
As we said, Alan Jackson is no stranger to theatrics in his music videos. Perhaps his most famous video, and maybe even song, is “Chattahoochee.” The “Chattahoochee” video features Jackson waterskiing while wearing jeans and a cowboy hat. Because, what else does one wear while waterskiing?
Jackson was reportedly shocked by the success of the song. But the legendary music video certainly helped. It has garnered nearly 130 million views on Youtube, and for good reason. Just take a glimpse and you’ll see what we mean.
The 1993 track reached the top of the country charts shortly after its release. The Chattahoochee River straddles the border between Alabama and Georgia, and Jackson based the song on his childhood in Alabama. The idea for the song actually came from co-writer Jim McBride.
McBride said, “I knew about the Chattahoochee River because I was raised in Alabama. Sydney Lanier was a poet who had written a poem called ‘Song of the Chattahoochee’ that was in high school literature books. I was sitting in my home office in Nashville one day, and I had just read a book about the Chattahoochee. I started playing a little melody, and then I got the first two lines of the song.”
While Alan Jackson’s days of making must-watch music videos have come to a close, at least we have these precious gems from the 90s to look back on. For more content from the best era in country music, keep it here on Outsider.
