Jason Aldean Reflects On His Emotional Journey After Route 91 Tragedy

Jason Aldean candidly opened up about the tragedy that took place nearly a decade ago at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Aldean joined actor and comedian Dax Shepard as a guest on the Armchair Expert podcast this week. During their conversation Shepard asked Aldean about the festival and how it impacted him afterward (acknowledging that he “fully (wants) to respect” that Aldean doesn’t like to talk about it). The reigning Academy of Country Music Artist of the Decade was in the midst of his performance when the event took place on October 1, 2017. Sixty people died and more than 800 others were injured during the tragedy.

The country star said he and his team were “shell shocked” in the aftermath of the incident, including throughout the following week. Aldean said he returned home after Las Vegas on Monday, and received a call to perform on Saturday Night Live on Thursday. He admitted he felt conflicted because he’d “always wanted” to play on SNL, but the timing was difficult one week after the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Aldean agreed to appear on the show if he could say what he wanted to say, and then returned to Las Vegas to visit with the victims in the hospital, he told Shepard.

Aldean said he quickly returned to his tour and continued performances for about a month before he had a few months at home. During that time, his son, Memphis, was born on December 1, 2017. “So all of a sudden, at home, we kind of had something else to focus on,” Aldean recalled. He said later that he “probably had a breakdown at my house one day, you know, and it was after my son was born, and just all the heaviness of everything just kind of getting laid on you and everybody wanting to…it’s easier to talk about now. At the time, it wasn’t because, you know, it’s like you’re still trying to comprehend what had just happened.”

Aldean said he feels “lucky” that he and his team were not hurt in the incident, but admitted feeling “guilt.” Shepard noted the “PTSD and survivor’s guilt on behalf of his fans,” in the episode description.

“it’s just one of those things that will kind of forever connect us to that city, and at some point you can either run from it or accept it and try and make something good out of it and that’s kind of what we tried to do. I ended up having a moment at my house where I kind of broke down,” Aldean remembered. He said that although he never made the choice to go to therapy (citing a “hard time opening up to people that don’t know me or haven’t been in the same situation”), he’s never been alone. He’s talked about the tragedy with his wife, his team and others, and he’s helped fund therapy for others. later in the conversation, he expressed an interest in performing residencies in Las Vegas (noting Kenny Chesney’s run at Sphere Las Vegas earlier this year).

Shepard notes that the Grammy-winning artist also shared stories about his childhood, how he taught himself to play guitar, his family, his music, and much more. Find the full podcast episode on iHeartRadio here (warning: language).