The 2018 ACM Awards were important for Jason Aldean, and not just because he won Entertainer of the Year, the night’s highest honor.
The show took Aldean back to Las Vegas, a little more than six months after the deadly Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting, which occurred while Aldean was on stage.
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“It’s been tough,” Aldean shared with PopCulture.com backstage at the ACM Awards. “It’s been tough coming back here. It’s like the first thing everybody wants to talk about is that night, and it’s not something I really like to talk about a whole lot and relive. But, I know there’s a lot of people out here who were there and went through that with us. And it’s just one of those things that I always want those people to know that we think about them all the time.
“We’re kind of forever bonded with those people, so you kind of have a special place in your heart for them,” added Aldean. “Coming out here, winning the award, and just sort of that capping off the ACMs for us after everything that’s gone down, it’s a pretty special thing for us.”
While Aldean will never forget the tragedy that occurred, the “You Make It Easy” singer is determined to not dwell on the one night.
“I think from now on, we will sort of forever be linked to Vegas,” he said. “And I’ve said this a lot over the last few months, but for the one horrible night we had here, I’ve had a million great ones. And tonight was a million and one. It’s like, I’ve had some really big moments of my career happen here, and I love this town, I love the city. And it’s a little different vibe for us, coming back here, when something like that happens.
“Like tonight, just winning that award after everything that’s gone on … all the support that we got from the country music community, and just everybody,” continued Aldean.
“I had people from U2, Bono from U2, and Ashton Kutcher who was here tonight, and all the people in the country music world. We had everybody reaching out to us. So really supportive of us. And man, it really helped us to get through that, knowing that people cared enough to reach out to us.”
The 41-year-old also credits his newborn son, Memphis, with helping him get over the devastating events that occurred.
“He was born two months to the day after the shooting happened here, and he was a blessing, obviously, for a lot of reasons, but really for the reason of allowing us to focus our attention on something else, not think about this all the time,” Aldean explained. “We got him to keep us busy. He’s been great. I’m ready for him to get old enough that I can start teaching him how to play baseball. That’s the only thing. But he’s only four months old, so I got a little while to go. Hoping he’s a lefty. It’s a golden ticket for a baseball player.”
Aldean will kick off his High Noon Neon Tour on May 10. Find dates on his website.
Photo Credit: YouTube
