Jason Aldean was given the prestigious ACM Artist of the Decade Award this week, a title he will hold for ten years. The trophy is the only one Aldean walked away with during the ceremony, even though he was also nominated for Music Event of the Year (for “Drowns the Whiskey” with Miranda Lambert) and Entertainer of the Year, a title he won three years in a row, before losing to Keith Urban this year. Still, the fact that he got it even one time is all he ever wanted.
“That was just always an award that I wanted to have once,” Aldean told PopCulture.com backstage at the ACM Awards. “Growing up, watching it on TV, that was the one everybody wanted. And that was just kind of a personal goal I set for myself. I hoped to get that once in my career. We also have a shelf life, so you start running out of time eventually. And so for me to get that one the first time it was pretty amazing. And the Academy, they’ve always been great to me.”
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Aldean isn’t at all disappointed that Urban upset his Entertainer of the Year run. Instead, he’s profoundly grateful for the years he had the title.
“I’ve won quite a few here,” Aldean acknowledged. “It’s been a great run. The last three Entertainers, and we got three Male Vocalists before that, so the last six or seven years for us have been pretty solid. So, I don’t have any complaints. But, there was a time where, for me, personally, that award means a lot to me and I really wanted to have it once. There’s nothing you can do but go out and play your shows and keep your head down and do your thing. It’s kind of out of your hands. So when it finally happened, it was a big night, for sure.”
The Georgia native has earned several awards in recent years, but there was a time when he thought his trophy case might remain empty.
“I feel like there was a time there where we were sort of the perennial nominee,” Aldean admitted. “There were years where I felt like we had a legitimate shot at it and it just kind of got to the point where I’m was like, “Man, maybe it’s just not going to happen for us.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Terry Wyatt
