Wanda Jackson Announces ‘Encore’, a New Album That Tells Her ‘Life Story’

Two years after her official retirement from performing, Wanda Jackson has announced a new, eight-song collection called Encore. With half of the songs co-written by the rockabilly legend herself, the new album will take fans deep into Jackson's personal life and songwriting process, she says.

"Right around the time I retired from performing and what I thought was the end of my career, I found myself back to writing songs with some of the great writers in Nashville," Jackson explains in a press release. Among those mainstay Music City co-writers are Lori McKenna, Luke Laird, Will Hoge and others.

"The songs you hear are truly my life story," Jackson goes on to say. "This is the first time I have ever inserted so much of myself into my music. You'll get a picture of my early life and have a [peek] into the closeness that my late husband Wendell and I had in our life together.

"I'm happy to share this with all of you," she adds. "Your constant love and support has seen me through the ups and downs of my 64-year career."

To kick off her album's rollout, Jackson shared her version of "It Keeps Right on a Hurtin'," which is the fifth track on Encore. The song was originally a 1962 hit for pop and country singer-songwriter Johnny Tillotson, who is perhaps best known for his 1960 UK No. 1 hit "Poetry in Motion." Since Tillotson released it, "It Keeps Right on a Hurtin'" has been recorded by many other artists, including cross-genre superstar Elvis Presley, who Jackson toured with and briefly dated in the mid-'50s.

Elsewhere on the album's tracklist, Encore promises to offer some exciting collaborations -- perhaps most prominently, a selection of duets with and covers of rock legend Joan Jett. For example, Jackson recorded "You Drive Me Wild," a song that Jett wrote and which first appeared on the tracklist of her band the Runaways' 1976 self-titled studio debut.

Jett also appears as a guest vocalist on three songs: "Treat Me Like a Lady," "That What Love Is" and "Two Shots," the latter alongside Elle King. Another song, "Good Girl Down," features vocals from Angaleena Presley and Candi Carpenter.

Encore is due for release on Aug. 20. Full details are below.

Wanda Jackson, Encore Tracklist:

1. “Big Baby” (Christopher Casello, Robin Lynn Grant)
2. “Two Shots" (feat. Elle King and Joan Jett) (David Ryan Harris, Tanner Elle Schneider)
3. “You Drive Me Wild” (Joan Jett)
4. “Good Girl Down" (feat. Angaleena Presley and Candi Carpenter) (Wanda Jackson, Vanessa Olivarez, Angaleena Presley)
5. “It Keeps Right on a Hurtin’” (Johnny Tillotson)
6. “We Gotta Stop” (Wanda Jackson, Will Hoge, Vanessa Olivarez)
7. “Treat Me Like a Lady" (feat. Joan Jett) (Wanda Jackson, Sonia Leigh, Vanessa Olivarez, Jordan Breanne Simpson)
8. “That What Love Is" (feat. Joan Jett) (Wanda Jackson, Luke Laird, Lori McKenna, Jordan Breanne Simpson)