It’s been called the greatest country song of all-time – labelled as such many times over – and today it arrives for all to experience like never before.

Today, the Grand Ole Opry (in conjunction with Virgin Music Group) releases a live version of “He Stopped Loving Her Today”…as a never-before heard duet by George Jones and Alan Jackson.

The event is a full-circle moment – the kind only the revered circle of the stage of the Grand Ole Opry could create. Jones’ live performance of the song on the Opry stage in 1993 gives way partway through to Jackson’s emotion-laden take on the classic delivered at Jones’ funeral in 2013, where he performed the legend’s signature song at the end of the service.

WATCH THE FULL PERFORMANCE HERE.

It’s a woven tapestry of two iconic voices delivering a song as only they can – one of the many special tracks to be found on the upcoming album, OPRY 100: Country’s Greatest Songs. And it’s an illustration – in lyric and performance – of two artists who shared a genuine mutual respect and admiration. Jackson cited Jones as an influence the minute he arrived on the scene…and the music he created prompted the legend to pen a now-famous note (displayed in the past at the Country Music Hall Fame and Museum, where both Jackson and Jones are enshrined) to Jackson thanking him for “Keepin’ It Country.”

OPRY 100: Country’s Greatest Songs – the exclusive one-of-a-kind album commemorating 100 years of the Opry and featuring 20 never-before-released live recordings from its iconic stage – is the latest in a series of special releases and events celebrating the Opry’s 100th year.

PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID McCLISTER

ABOUT ALAN JACKSON:  A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and an inductee to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Alan Jackson’s membership among music’s all-time greats is part of a long line of career-defining accolades that include three CMA Entertainer of the Year honors, over 30 years of membership in the Grand Ole Opry, a Billboard ranking as one of the Top 10 Country Artists of All-Time, induction to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Heritage Award as the most-performed country songwriter-artist of ASCAP’s first 100 years.

The man from rural Newnan, GA has sold nearly 60-million albums worldwide and released more than 60 singles – registering 50 Top Ten hits and 35 #1s (including 26 Billboard chart-toppers). He has earned more than 150 major music industry awards – including 22 Academy of Country Music Awards, 17 Country Music Association Awards (including the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award), a pair of Grammys, ASCAP’s Founders and Golden Note Awards, and the NSAI’s Kris Kristofferson Lifetime Achievement Award. He was recently presented with the inaugural Alan Jackson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Country Music, an honor which now bears his name.

Jackson – one of the most successful and respected singer-songwriters in music – is also the man behind one of Nashville’s most-popular tourist stops, AJ’s Good Time Bar. The four-story honky-tonk in the heart of downtown featuring daily live music and a rooftop view of Music City set the bar – literally – for the many celebrity establishments in the city as the first – and still the only solely-owned – artist bar on Broadway.

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It’s been called the greatest country song of all-time – labelled as such many times over – and today it arrives for all to experience like never before. Today, the Grand Ole Opry (in conjunction with Virgin Music Group) releases a live version of “He Stopped Loving Her Today”…as a never-before heard duet...