9 Things to Know About Jason Aldean

Jason Aldean has already had a pretty eventful 2020, having kicked off his We Back Tour in January, and the singer now has another reason to celebrate with his 43rd birthday on Feb. 28.

Since releasing his first single, “Hicktown,” in 2005, Aldean has become one of the biggest acts in country music. He’s released eight albums, won numerous awards including ACM Entertainer of the Year and is continually touring arenas around the country. In 2019, he was named the ACM’s Artist of the Decade, and in November, he released his ninth studio album, 9.

While you may know the basics — Aldean is from Georgia, loves football and has four kids — scroll through for some facts you might not know about the Keeping Up With the Kardashians enthusiast.

His real name is Jason Aldine Williams

Rather than go by Jason Williams, Aldean changed the spelling of his middle name, Aldine, to Aldean to come up with a more unique moniker, a philosophy he’s passed on to his kids — Keeley, Kendyl, Memphis and Navy.

I wanted them to have unique names,” Aldean said of his kids. “I mean, not weird, but unique, and with having a name like Jason, it didn’t get much more common, you know what I mean? I wanted them to have something a little cooler than that but not crazy, and I felt like both their names are different. I don’t know anybody else with those names.”

He considered a career in sports instead of music

Aldean was offered a college baseball scholarship, but turned down the offer to try his hand at becoming a musician, CBS shared. After that decision, there was also a time when Aldean considered leaving Nashville to head home to Georgia before ultimately making it big in Nashville.

“I had a record deal and lost it and kept trying, almost getting there with other record labels, and then stuff would happen, so yeah, I mean, that’s frustrating,” he said. “That’s frustrating for anybody and just frustrating to the point of, at the time, I had my oldest daughter was…I mean, she was just born, so that was kind of where I had to figure out something, a way to feed her. That was priority number one, and so yeah, I mean, there was a point where I was gonna move back to Georgia and go to work with my cousin and just try and re-assess some things and figure it out.”

He used to drive a delivery truck for Pepsi

Back in his native Macon, Georgia, Aldean drove a delivery truck for the Pepsi company while honing his skills as a performer. Aldean performed in front of a crowd for the first time at 14 years old at a local VFW before moving on to talent competitions, local fairs and bars. The singer learned how to play guitar from his dad, Buddy, who would write down chords before leaving for work that Aldean would then practice before the two played together in the evenings.

He watches ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’

This one might come as a bit of a surprise, but Aldean admitted to the Today show that he watches Keeping Up With the Kardashians thanks to his wife, Brittany.

“She’s a big fan of the Kardashians, so I’ve had to learn — first I was like, ‘Come on, I don’t wanna watch this,’ and now I’m like, ‘What did Scott do this week? What are Kim and Kanye up to?’” he said. “So now I’m all into it.”

Along with KUWTK, Aldean is also a fan of crime dramas including CSI, Criminal Minds and The Mentalist and HBO shows Entourage and Eastbound & Down.

His favorite song to sing at karaoke is “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray

While Aldean is likely a mainstay for karaoke-participating country music fans, the Georgia native’s go-to song is “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray. He’s also a fan of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” as well as tunes by Otis Redding and The Eagles.

He and Luke Bryan are both part owners in a company called Buck Commander

Aldean and Bryan have a hand in hunting company Buck Commander, which sells apparel and gear and also releases videos of the singers and their co-commanders sharing their outdoor lifestyle. Along with Bryan, the owners of Buck Commander include former Major League Baseball players Adam LaRoche, Ryan Langerhans and Tombo Martin and Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty.

He likes his coffee black

Life on the road can be exhausting, which means Aldean needs plenty of coffee to keep his energy up. The star takes his black, with at least four packets of no-calorie sweeteners. Along with the drink, he shared during a fan Q&A that one of his food vices is popcorn.

“I’ll eat like a bowl of popcorn every night,” he said.

He writes songs but rarely puts them on his own albums

Aldean had multiple co-writing credits on his 2005 debut album and one credit on 2009’s Wide Open, but the singer ultimately abides by the philosophy of choosing what he believes are the best songs, no matter who wrote them.

As a result, the liner notes of Aldean’s albums are full of other big names including Nashville songwriting mainstays like Hillary Lindsey, Rhett Akins and Ashley Gorley and country stars like Thomas Rhett, Tyler Hubbard, Brian Kelley, David Lee Murphy, Lee Brice, Brantley Gilbert and Morgan Wallen.

He once autographed a prosthetic leg

Aldean has signed plenty of autographs in his time, including one on a prosthetic leg. According to Country Common, the fan took off the artificial limb before the singer added his name.

Photo Credit: Getty / Getty / Rick Diamond