Jason Aldean

Early life

Aldean was born in Macon, Georgia, United States. His parents separated when he was three. He was raised by his mother, in Macon, while during the summer, he would spend time with his father in Homestead, Florida. Aldean changed his name on the suggestion of Monte C. Willis a music consultant hired by Barry Williams (now partners in managing Curb Recording artist Rachel Holder). "There was an artist named Jason D. Williams performing all over Nashville at the time and I felt like there would be a lot of confusion, so I called Barry and suggested the name change. Really, not an easy thing to suggest to a father, but ultimately it worked out well". Monte Willis . : In order to stand out, he changed the spelling of his middle name, Aldine, to come up with the name Aldean.

Musical career

After high school, with his father's help, Aldean and his band performed at Truman State University (previously Northeast Missouri State University) in Kirksville, Missouri. With Justin Weaver (one of the band's members), Aldean began writing and recording songs with Savannah based writer Robert Willis, he also recorded a song written by hit songwriter Keith Follose. You can hear those songs on Youtube. In 1998, he performed songs from his first album at a showcase staged by Atlanta nightclub The Buckboard. He was approached by Michael Knox, then of the Warner-Chappell song-publishing company. After signing with Warner-Chappell, Aldean moved to Nashville on November 1, 1998, at age 21.

Aldean was offered a recording contract but was subsequently dropped. He signed with another label but again was dropped in 2000 for postponing his recording sessions repeatedly. Various showcases failed to bring him a contract. The last straw was an attempt at the Wildhorse Saloon where the promised label talent scouts never even showed up. Finally, Lawrence Mathis spotted Aldean at one of the showcases at The Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville. He signed as Aldean's first manager. Still frustrated and discouraged with his struggling career, Aldean gave himself 6 months before planning to leave Nashville and return home to Georgia. Then 5 weeks later, he was offered a deal from Broken Bow Records in Nashville. Shortly after the release of his self-titled debut album, Aldean picked up his new (and current) agent Kevin Neal. Furthermore, while recording Relentless, Aldean moved to Clarence Spalding and Spalding Entertainment for management.

2005–07: Jason Aldean

Aldean's debut single, "Hicktown", was released in early 2005. It served as the lead-off to his self-titled debut album and reached a peak of No. 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. The album also produced his first Number One hit in "Why", This album finally released the No. 4 hit "Amarillo Sky", which had previously been a non-charting single in 2002 for McBride & the Ride. This song earned a 2006 ACM nomination for Song of the Year and Video of the Year. Aldean earned the title "Top New Male Vocalist" at the 2006 ACM Awards. The album has sold over 1,000,000 copies in the United States and was certified platinum by the RIAA in 2007.

2007–08: Relentless

Aldean spent most of January 2007, in the studio with producer Michael Knox to finish his second album, Relentless. This album was released on May 29, 2007 and at Wal-Mart locations, it was released with a Limited Edition CMT Pick DVD that included Aldean's performances. The album's lead-off single, "Johnny Cash", was originally recorded by Tracy Byrd, but Aldean's version of it peaked at No. 6. Its followup "Laughed Until We Cried" became his 5th consecutive Top 10 hit. Relentless has also been certified platinum by the RIAA, and its title track was released as its 3rd single. The song has also been Aldean's lowest charting single both in the U.S. and Canada, failing to reach the Top 10 on the country charts.

2009–10: Wide Open

Aldean released his 7th single titled "She's Country" on December 1, 2008. This song serves as the lead-off single from his 3rd album Wide Open, which was released on April 7, 2009. The single debuted at No. 51 on the Hot Country Songs chart in late-November 2008. Being his 7th consecutive Top 40 hit on the country charts, it is also his 1st Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. It later became his 2nd number-one hit, and his first since "Why" in May 2006. The next single, "Big Green Tractor," became Aldean's 3rd Number One hit. Wide Open debuted at No. 2 on the Top Country Albums chart. "The Truth" became the album's 3rd consecutive Number One hit in January 2010, with "Crazy Town" being the album's 4th single and peaking at No. 2 on the country charts.

Aldean performed with Bryan Adams on an episode of CMT Crossroads in the beginning of May, and the episode premiered on June 26, 2009. In an interview with Shave Magazine, Aldean explained that working with Bryan on Crossroads "was great" and that "[h]e was a lot of fun." But the real highlight for him was that he was working with Randy Owen. "I am a big fan of Alabama so I got a chance to work with Randy Owen on this album (it didn't make the album but it eventually made a bonus track). It was really cool. Alabama were like 'The Beatles' for me so working with him was definitely one of the highlights," he said "I mean, both of those guys were really cool moments, but if I had to pick one highlight, it would be working with Randy [Owen] this year."

A live DVD titled Wide Open Live & More was released on August 25, 2009.

At the 2010 CMT Music Awards, Aldean picked up 3 nominations in Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year for "The Truth", as well as Collaborative Video of the Year and CMT Performance of the Year for his performance of "Heaven" with Bryan Adams.

2010–12: My Kinda Party

In August 2010, Aldean released a new single "My Kinda Party," which entered the Hot Country Songs chart at No. 41. It is the lead-off single from his album of the same name, which was released on November 2, 2010. It marks as Aldean's tenth top 10 country hit. Aldean also collaborated with Kelly Clarkson on the intimate duet "Don't You Wanna Stay". His and Clarkson's performance on November 10, 2010, at the CMA Awards received positive recognition, and debuted at No. 59 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart from unsolicited airplay for the week of November 20, 2010. In March 2011, it became Aldean's 5th number one hit.

In early 2011, Aldean's version of "Dirt Road Anthem", which was recorded previously by both of its writers country rap artist Colt Ford and Brantley Gilbert (who also wrote "My Kinda Party"), debuted on the Hot Country Songs chart at No. 57 as an album cut from an unsolicited airplay for the week of February 5, 2011. In March 2011, the song was chosen as the 3rd single from My Kinda Party. Aldean also collaborated with Ludacris for the song at the 2011 CMT Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee on June 8, 2011. In addition to making #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart for the week of July 30, 2011, it also became Aldean's first Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 chart.

Aldean performed "My Kinda Party" at the start of the 2011 Home Run Derby, which was aired on ESPN.

Aldean won the CMA award for Album of the Year in 2011 as well as the Musical Event of the Year with "Don't You Wanna Stay", his duet with Kelly Clarkson. This made it was his first win.

On October 25, 2011, it was announced that Aldean would be performing on The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music's Biggest Night, the 1-hour special which took place live on Wednesday, November 30, 2011, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. "Don't You Wanna Stay" received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, but however lost to The Civil Wars at the 54th Grammy Awards on February 12, 2012.

The fourth single from the album was "Tattoos on This Town", which peaked at No.2, followed by yet another number one single, entitled "Fly Over States".

2012–14: Night Train

The 1st single from Aldean's 5th album was entitled "Take a Little Ride." It was released on July 16, 2012. Later, the album's title was announced as Night Train. This album was released on October 16, 2012. Its 2nd single, "The Only Way I Know," is a collaboration among him, Luke Bryan, and Eric Church. The album's 3rd single, entitled "1994," is a tribute to Joe Diffie. The album's 4th single, the title track, was released to country radio on June 24, 2013. The fifth single, "When She Says Baby", was released to country radio on November 18 of that same year. "Take a Little Ride", "The Only Way I Know", "Night Train", and "When She Says Baby" all peaked at number 1 on the Country Airplay chart respectively.

During a radio interview on May 18, Aldean hinted at another possible collaboration with Ludacris. He did state that it would not be on Night Train. On December 16, 2014, Ludacris released an Extended Play titled Burning Bridges, in which the title track featured him and Aldean as a duet.

Aldean performed "My Kinda Party" during the People's Choice Awards on January 9, 2013.

On June 5, 2013, Jason Aldean co-hosted the 2013 CMT Music Awards with actress Kristen Bell. He and Lenny Kravitz opened the awards show singing "American Woman".

2014–16: Old Boots, New Dirt

On July 22, 2014, Aldean released a new single "Burnin' It Down". This song would serve as the lead single off his 6th studio album Old Boots, New Dirt, which was released on October 7, 2014. This song reached #1 both on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. The album's second single, "Just Gettin' Started", was released to country radio on November 10, 2014. It reached #1 on the Country Airplay chart in March 2015. "Tonight Looks Good on You" was released as the third single on March 23, 2015. It reached #1 on the Country Airplay chart in July 2015. also performed CMT Crossroads with Bob Seger song called "Turn the Page". The album's fourth single, "Gonna Know We Were Here" released to country radio on August 17, 2015. It reached #2 on the Country Airplay chart in January 2016. Jason Aldean is one of only three artists to achieve RIAA platinum sales certification on an album released this year. His Old Boots, New Dirt album, which debuted at the top of Billboard's all-genre Top 200 chart in October, has now shipped more than one million units. This means that he is the only country star to release a platinum-seller in 2014, and joins only Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande in platinum album certifications for collections released this year.

At the conclusion of Aldean's Burn it Down Tour, Aldean donated over $600,000 to Susan G. Komen of South Florida.

2016–present: They Don't Know and upcoming 8th album

In July 2016 it was announced that the seventh regular studio album, They Don't Know, was set for release on September 9 of that year. Again produced by Michael Know, the album was preceded by the single "Lights Come On", released to country radio on April 1, 2016. The album's second single, "A Little More Summertime", released to country radio on July 15, 2016. The album's third single, "Any Ol' Barstool", was released to country radio on December 5, 2016. The album's fourth and final single, the title track of the album, was released to country radio on May 8, 2017.

At the 2016 ACM Awards, Aldean was awarded Entertainer of the Year for the first time in his career.

In March 2017, Aldean announced that he is working on his 8th album, which will be released in late 2017 or early 2018.

Personal life

Aldean married Jessica Ann Ussery on August 4, 2001. Together the couple have two daughters, Keely (born Feb. 14, 2003) and Kendyl (born August 20, 2007). On September 30, 2012, Aldean admitted to having "acted inappropriately at a bar", while former American Idol contestant Brittany Kerr, responding to reports linking her and Aldean, said in a statement she had suffered "a lapse in judgment" and "would like to sincerely apologize to everyone that has been affected by this". Aldean filed for divorce on April 26, 2013, citing irreconcilable differences and listing the filing date as the formal separation date.

Aldean and Kerr began dating and made their first public appearance as a couple at the 2014 CMT Awards. and on September 24, 2014, Aldean and Kerr announced their engagement. The couple were married on March 21, 2015. On May 8, 2017, Aldean and Kerr announced that they are expecting a baby and on May 22 they announced they were having a boy.

Along with former Major League Baseball (MLB) players Adam LaRoche, Ryan Langerhans, and Tombo Martin, Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty, and fellow country singer Luke Bryan, Aldean owns a hunting company called Buck Commander.

Aldean owns 1,300 acres (5.3 km²) of land just outside Nashville, Tennessee.

Aldean is a Georgia Bulldogs fan and spends every Saturday he can watching games. He played the first-ever concert at the University of Georgia's Sanford Stadium for over 60,000 fans in April 2013, and Ludacris happened to make an appearance for their collaboration of "Dirt Road Anthem." Aldean has a bulldog named Athens, for the location of the university and also has a "Man Barn" at his home, which includes televisions, a full bar, leather couches, and Georgia Bulldogs decorations which is under renovation.

In 2015, Forbes estimated Aldean's annual income at $43.5 million.

Albums

Tours

Headlining

Supporting

Touring band

Aldean's road band consists of Rich Redmond, Tully Kennedy, and Kurt Allison which were all formerly part of the band Rushlow, fronted by former Little Texas lead vocalist Tim Rushlow. The road band, along with David Fanning, also comprises the production team New Voice Entertainment. Fanning is also signed to Broken Bow's sister label, Red Bow.

Filmography