My favorite photo of Wendell and me together. We were celebrating our thirtieth anniversary.
I was seventy-three years old when The Party Ain’t Over came out, but I had no interest in slowing down. I was thrilled when Jon Hensley suggested I work with Jack White, but the album came out so great, and we got such a wonderful critical reception, that I didn’t know how I was possibly going to top it. I felt like I’d done my very best, and I would have been happy to say “that’s it.” I still wanted to tour and play for the fans, but it was hard to imagine I was going to make another record that I would be as proud of.
Jon suggested that I should record at least one more album, and recommended Justin Townes Earle to produce it. I didn’t know Justin. I’d heard his name, but didn’t know his music. I listened to a few things he’d recorded, and I appreciated his rootsy country style, so I decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, I was on the road a good bit in 2012 and didn’t have much time to think about what material I’d record. Justin sent me some songs, so I made my selections long distance. He sent some good things, and I think he had a good sense of what kind of material would work for me.
When it came time to record, however, I’d just finished up some European dates. I’d been traveling a lot and was tired. We’d worked pretty hard and the album, Unfinished Business reflects it. The songs were good and were cute, but my voice just wasn’t in top form. The famous horror writer Stephen King wrote the liner notes and said, “There was never a singer quite like Wanda Jackson, one who could hold her own with rockabilly rebels like Gene Vincent and Jerry Lee Lewis any day of the week.” I was flattered, but I felt like I was wrung out before we even started recording. Justin was smart to take me back to more of a simple, stripped-down country and rockabilly sound. It wouldn’t have worked if he’d tried to compete with what Jack had created for my previous album, but it was also hard to recapture the excitement that Jack had created.
Unfinished Business was not a career high point for me. It’s not Justin’s fault; it’s just that the timing was off. I had fans and critics who were complimentary, but I know I could have done better. Sometimes I like to pull out my albums and listen to them as a way of walking down memory lane. This is one I hardly ever listen to. I suppose the title was meant to suggest that I had more to do and that perhaps that album would be my final recorded statement. Ironically, it actually left me with unfinished business. I decided soon after it was recorded that I would make at least one more album before I hung it up for good. I just needed to wait for the right moment.
Wendell and I continued to tour the world, but, despite our best efforts, we couldn’t outrun some of the problems that tend to come creeping in with age. The last couple of years, in particular, presented some real heath challenges, and I was starting to feel a little beat up there for a while. There was a stretch when it seemed like I was in the hospital more than I was out!
Nobody wants to hear people complain about their medical problems, but I’ll give you just a little background because it’s not really a story about my aches and pains so much as it is a story of God’s goodness in seeing me through with His healing power.
My issues began after I contracted an infection in my foot that ended up getting into the bone. While I was being treated for that problem, I contracted MRSA, a virus that clings to any metal or alloy. Since I’d had a knee replacement years before, that MRSA just clung to it and would not leave my body. The doctors ended up taking out the replacement and I went for weeks without a knee. I had to walk on my tip toes, all the while taking a high-powered intravenous antibiotic, which just about wiped me out.
During that whole ordeal I fell a couple of times, including once at home, where I knocked my shoulder blade out of joint and chipped the bone. I could go on about my arthritis and other ailments, but the point is that, though it was all very difficult, God won’t ever give you more than you can take. I knew I’d push through and get back on my feet again. That’s what was most important to me.
Finally, after three operations in a row and three rounds of the medication, the MRSA virus was gone and I could walk again. For some reason, however, the doctors discovered that I had some internal bleeding. I was starting to feel like I couldn’t catch a break. But God always has a plan, and He knew how He was going to bring my strength and my health back.
My granddaughter, Jordan, who lives in Nashville and works in the music business, was working with a female trio called Bang!Bang! She booked the girls down in Mexico for an event at a hospital in Tijuana called CHIPSA. Jordan started talking with the owner, Ed Clay, and ended up telling him about my various health challenges. He encouraged her to bring me down there for their innovative inpatient program, which focuses on both medical and nutritional therapy.
My trip to Mexico was a transformative experience. I was there for about a month in the spring of 2017, and Wendell was able to be with me, since their “companion stay” facilities are designed for patients to bring their loved ones for support and encouragement. I received a much-needed blood transfusion and went through a series of oxygen treatments in a hyperbaric chamber. I had to drink thirteen glasses of juice every day and take what seemed like a hundred pills a day. I also ate an all vegan diet. That part was awful. I thought, Oh, Lord, deliver me! I’m a meat and potatoes gal, so that was rough on me. But I’ll be darned if the place didn’t turn everything around for me. God brought the right people along at the right time to help restore my health.
After my stay in Mexico, I felt like a new woman. I was ready to get back onstage and remember, once again, what it’s like to perform without feeling exhausted. Wendell and I went out in May, 2017, to play dates in Chicago, Nashville, and Birmingham. We were joined at all three shows by Jordan, who in addition to her various music industry pursuits in Nashville, is an integral part of the third generation of family members who make up Wanda Jackson Enterprises. She started out helping with my publicity and began transitioning into handling management responsibilities as Wendell began to slow down a little bit.
As we were dealing with my own health battles, Wendell had begun showing some early signs of dementia. It took us a while to figure out exactly what was going on. I knew he was forgetful, but, heck, I was, too! After a while, it was clear it was more than just age. He wasn’t always himself, and that made it difficult for him to stay on top of everything as he once had so masterfully. Having Jordan step in to lend a hand was a real blessing.
On Saturday night, May 20, I performed at Birmingham’s Saturn club. Wendell introduced me and escorted me on stage, as he’d done at every show since he took over as my manager back in the ’60s. He was feeling a little weak that night, which had become a more common occurrence in the previous year or so. He had quadruple bypass surgery back in 1993, which they say is usually effective for about twenty years. He had been having frequent “spells”—Wendell’s term for feeling dizzy, getting headaches, and losing energy—for a few weeks leading up to that night. He was eating nitro pills like candy, and I later learned that he couldn’t get down the steps from the stage that evening until he steadied himself on the rail for a moment and took a few of his “dynamite pills.” Jordan helped him to a table and they sat together in the audience for my show.
As I looked out on the two of them, it occurred to me that I couldn’t even remember the last time Wendell had been out in the crowd to watch my entire show from beginning to end. Usually he was running around taking care of all the business, but with Jordan in tow, it freed him up to sit down and enjoy the performance as a spectator. “Wanda, you sounded terrific tonight,” he beamed when we got back to the hotel room after the show. “Your voice is sounding so strong, and it’s so good to see your energy and your strength up there. You’re back!”
The next day Jordan dropped us off at the Birmingham airport and headed back to Nashville. While we were waiting to fly home to Oklahoma City, Wendell passed out. The paramedics worked on him for forty-five minutes at the airport, but couldn’t revive him. An ambulance transported him to the emergency room, where they continued to work on him. After what seemed like hours, the doctor came out to the waiting area and told me they couldn’t save him. He’d had a heart attack. I felt my mouth go dry. I hadn’t been without Wendell in over fifty-five years. He was eighty-one years old, but I couldn’t believe he was gone so quickly.
Nothing really prepares you for that moment, but the people in Birmingham were so good to me. They treated me like family. In fact, an employee from Delta Airlines and another employee from American who saw what happened came to the hospital, prayed with me, and took care of all the logistics. Neither one of them knew I was an entertainer or had any reason to take an interest in me other than pure compassion. God sent those women to be my angels that day. Despite my profound sense of loss, I was also filled with love, comfort, and a peace that passes all understanding.
I realize now that Wendell was sicker than he let on. Maybe he didn’t want to admit that his strength was failing. He’d always been my rock and my knight in shining armor. I can certainly understand why he might not want to face the reality of the changes in his life. I know I certainly didn’t. When you’re young you think you’ll live forever. Maybe it never really gets any easier to deal with your own mortality as you age. But none of us can escape the inevitable.
Even though I’m sad not to have Wendell by my side anymore, I do have hope. I know I’ll see him again. I know we’ll spend forever together in Heaven. Wendell is no longer in his earthly body, but he’s waiting for me in eternity. And he’s free. He doesn’t have to take those nitro pills. His mind isn’t betraying him. His body isn’t slowing him down or holding him back. He is in the presence of God and he is whole. As I’ve thought about it, I’m glad that the Lord chose to take him when he did instead of having him suffer through a long, slow mental decline.
We had a service for Wendell at Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City on May 26. My next show was scheduled for June 3 in Seattle, but I couldn’t imagine how I could possibly go back out there and do what I do without Wendell there in his dependable role as manager, encourager, organizer, and number one cheerleader. We’d been partners in marriage, parenting, music, business, and life for so many years! It felt like I’d lost an appendage or two (at least), and a great big chunk of my heart. Was I even capable of carrying on without him?
I was trying to go to sleep that night, but a million thoughts were floating through my mind. I was feeling restless and started thinking about Wendell. My mind drifted back to a recurring conversation we’d been having in recent months. I had been talking to him about making a plan for when we should retire. I guess I could see that his dementia was getting worse, and I thought maybe it would be better for him if we stopped traveling. But he wasn’t ready. He would always say, “Wanda, I think we should give it at least a couple more years.”
As I lay there in the dark, replaying those conversations in my mind, something just told me “I’m going to give it at least a couple more years, and I’m gonna do it for Wendell.” At that moment, I realized that the best thing for me is to get right back out there and do what he knew I loved to do. Now I’m on that stage to honor Wendell’s memory and to bring glory to God as I share the story of my faith and the story of the kind of love and commitment a couple can have when they build a lasting relationship on the right foundation.
Jordan met me in Seattle for that next show, and everything worked out perfectly. They had a beautiful three-room suite for us, provided transportation to and from the venue, and even took us to a great barbecue restaurant to eat afterward. It was a sweet experience, and everyone was so kind. But I have to confess I was a little nervous before going onstage that night. What if I started thinking about Wendell and got so teary eyed I couldn’t sing? How would the crowd react? Would I just end up embarrassing myself?
As it turned out, I felt strong. I felt like the Lord and Wendell were up there watching me with great big smiles on their faces. Maybe they called Daddy and Mother over, too, to enjoy the show. I thought about the old song “May the Circle Be Unbroken” and I felt like I was living out those lyrics in that very moment.
The only time I faltered was halfway through “Right or Wrong.” That has always been my special song for Wendell, ever since he told me he fell for me the first time he heard me sing it. I’ve thought of it as a declaration of my commitment to him and a testament to our love ever since he and I first met. I broke down a little bit during that one, but Jordan swears it wasn’t obvious. Whether it was or not, I felt good to be back up there, with my health back where it ought to be, doing what Wendell loved to see me do.
Two weeks later I appeared on the Grand Ole Opry—for the third time ever—and sang “Right or Wrong” for Wendell once again. My son, Greg, and his family were there that night with me. In fact, after all my years in the music business, it was the first time Greg had ever been to Nashville! Of course, Jordan was there, too. Since Wendell passed, my entire family—including my daughter, Gina, who’s living with me now—has made me feel so treasured and supported. I can say that grief is real, but so is the love of a good family, the faithfulness of God, and the sweet promise that we’ll all be reunited again one day.