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‘Manifestation’ seems to have been the buzzword of 2024, with various outlets, podcasts and self-help books championing our ability to will our wildest fantasies into being.
Regardless of whether you believe in manifestation or not, there are some things that simply can't be wished into reality - such as, perhaps, Alan Jackson being Zach Top's father.
You'd have thought this wasn't something that was in question, given the fact that, well, it's simply not true, but the musical similarities between Top and Jackson - along with his signature ‘90s moustache - have left some fans conjuring up a blood relation.
The conspiracy really took off when 93.7 JR Country radio host, Docc Andrews, conducted some sleuthing to find that Alan Jackson was playing a show in Washington - Zach Top's hometown - around the time when Zach Top would have been conceived.
Andrews outlined his tongue-in-cheek theory, “You guys, Zach Top was born September 6th, 1997, in Sunnyside, Washington, USA. If you go back nine months from his birth date to the Winter of 1996. In November of 1996, Alan Jackson played at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington! Have you seen Zach Top’s face? His moustache? His sound? Zach Top is Alan Jackson’s son. Prove me wrong”.
Hilariously, shortly after this TikTok clip went viral, someone went into Zach Top's Wikipedia biography and altered it to read, “Zach Top was born on September 26, 1997, and grew up on his father Alan Jackson's ranch in Sunnyside, Washington”. The Wikipedia page has since been updated, with this false information removed.
It's not the first time a mock parenthood has been devised in the country music world, with John Daly and ERNEST sharing a long-running joke that they might be father and son.
Even though they're not related, Alan Jackson's influence on Zach Top is plain to see, with Top tipping his Stetson to Jackson's iconic 1992 hit on ‘Sounds Like the Radio’, “Well, the day I was born the doc couldn't believe / I came out cryin' Chattahoochee”.
Although Zach Top sarcastically claims ‘I Never Lie’ on his 2024 anthem, we were suspecting the country prodigy might play along with the joke when he was inevitably asked about it in an interview. Top proved us right when he spent some time with The Rob and Holly Show, quipping, “Oh, it's more than a rumour. Hell, I've been trying to figure out what the answer is. My parents won't answer me straight”.
He joked, “Nobody will...I think the only way I'm gonna get a straight answer is in Forth Worth when I finally meet him, when we do that first show here in a few weeks. I'm just gonna go up and say, ’Hi Daddy, I've missed you’, and we'll see how he reacts, and I'll know whether it's true or not...Sorry Alan, if this is disrespectful and you see this...I love you and I respect you, and we're just having fun”.
Then, when Zach Top joined up with Alan Jackson the latter's Last Call tour, he stoked the flames of light-hearted conjecture when he shared a photo of the two together, alongside the caption, “Excited to be back out on the road this weekend with the man @officialalanjackson!” With the duo grinning at the camera with their moustaches and cowboy hats, many fans have again been pointing out their likeness.
We'd love to see Alan Jackson bringing out Zach Top on-stage for a hilarious moment poking fun at these rumours. Regardless of the truth of the matter, this viral joke stems from a place of love, with fans paying tribute to the fact that Top, who was just crowned ACM New Male Artist of the Year, is bringing back Jackson's ‘90s country sound - and cementing himself as a future star of the genre in the process.
For more on Zach Top, see below:
