Jason Aldean On The ’11 Minutes’ Documentary About Route 91 Shooting

Jason Aldean’s voice is prominent in the new Paramount Plus documentary 11 Minutes. The doc tells the story of the Route 91 Las Vegas massacre on October 1, 2017, where a shooter took the lives of 58 people in the concert crowd, making it the deadliest mass shooting by an individual is U.S. history.

In the doc, Jason describes how his bass player, Tully Kennedy, was mere inches away from being hit by a bullet onstage. He also recalls being hustled offstage and hiding in his tour van with his wife, Brittany, who was then seven months pregnant with the couple’s first son, Memphis.

 

Aldean posted a clip of the new documentary on his Instagram and wrote, “There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t think about our Route 91 family and all the heroes that day. 11 Minutes, the first ever docuseries telling the story of what happened that night, is out now streaming on Paramount+. #Route91 #VegasStrong.”

Several fans reacted to the post, including one who wrote, “We will never forget.” Another fan commented, “The night that changed our lives forever #route91family – Route91 family!” One more fan said, “Forever bonded! Cannot believe it’s been 5 years since we experienced this traumatic event. Never forget the 58!”

In 2019, Jason played a show in Las Vegas for the first time since the shooting two years earlier. He told the crowd at Park MGM’s Theater, “It’s a real special night for us. We got a lotta people in the crowd tonight who are family to us, so welcome out, everybody. It’s good to be back in Las Vegas. This is our first show back, and make no mistake about it; we came back to blow it out for you tonight.”

This year, after his win for “Single of the Year” for his duet (“If I Didn’t Love You”) with Carrie Underwood at the ACM Awards in Las Vegas, Jason was asked about that fateful day in 2017. He responded, “It’s not quite the way I wanted to be attached to the city by any means, but I do feel a special connection to the city, more so since Route 91.”

He added, “I enjoy coming back here, man. I always have a great time being here. Some of the highlights of my career happened in this town and at this particular show [The ACM Awards.] So, I have a lot of great memories from here.”

20 Musical Reasons Jason Aldean Is A Country Superstar

• 20. “Night Train” – 2013

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  A solid song about two lovers finding the perfect spot for romance at night while waiting for a train to pass by. Jason debuted the song on June 5, 2013, at the CMT Music Awards.

• 19. “Crazy Town” – 2010

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  A fun song used by the Nashville Predators at their home games in a pregame video. The song was also used by the Predators during their walkout at the 2020 NHL Winter Classic.

• 18. “Fly Over States” – 2012

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  This song became Aldean’s seventh number one hit. The title references the term “flyover states,” often associated with the Southern and Midwestern United States. The lyrics tell the story of two men on a first-class flight "from New York to Los Angeles," discussing who would want to live in the land they are seeing down below and saying that the land is "in the middle of nowhere."
• 17. “Tattoos On This Town” – 2011

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  The song’s video portrays a young couple's love story, starting from their teenage years, fast-forwarding through marriage and settling down, all the way to the young man's leaving for war. Jason said of the song, "It reminds me of where I’m from, and some of the stuff I did when I was growing up.”

• 16. “Gonna Know We Were Here” – 2015

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  It was released in August 2015 as the fourth single from Aldean's 2014 album Old Boots, New Dirt. Staying true to Jason’s tested and true song “formula,” it charted at number five on the Billboard Country Songs chart.

• 15. “My Kinda Party” – 2010

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  A song big enough to title an album and a tour, this song is a country-rock song about a guy who's "worked all week" asking a girl out for a tailgate party and bonfire and asking her to stay the night with him afterward.
• 14. “Dirt Road Anthem” – 2011

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  Written by fellow artists Brantley Gilbert and Colt Ford, when this song came out Aldean's publicist teased about the song, suggesting Aldean listened to "a little Snoop Dogg in his time." However, Jason said he did not consider "Dirt Road Anthem" a rap song, although he later did a remix of the song with Ludacris.

• 13. “Relentless” – 2008

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  The song’s lyrics describe his lover as being "relentless" in nature saying, "I can't outrun it / Just keeps coming / Girl, your love is relentless." He compares her to a daydream, crashing waves, and a storm.

• 12. “Lights Come On” – 2016

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  The music video for this song premiered in June 2016. It is 5 minutes long and combines tour footage of Aldean's 2016 “Six String Circus Tour,” with an in-depth interview in which he states what touring means to him.
• 11. “Rearview Town” – 2019

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  A title track “Rearview Town” reached number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in August of 2019, which made this Jason’s 21st number one, also making him sixth in ranking of artists with the most number-one songs on the chart.

• 10. “Any Ol’ Barstool” – 2016

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  This song originally was not written with Aldean in mind, but after he heard it from producer Michael Knox, he fell in love with its "traditional country sound." During interviews for the album They Don’t Know, Jason called it "one of the most well-written songs" on the project.

• 9. “Drowns the Whiskey” (featuring Miranda Lambert) – 2018

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  A masterful duet with Miranda Lambert that blends their voices perfectly. The song sings about his vain attempts to "drown" the memory of a former loved one by drinking whiskey but instead observes that the memory "drowns the whiskey.”
• 8. “Blame It on You” – 2020

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  This song’s music video was released on January 28, 2021. It told a story about the relationship of a young couple in the 1940s.

• 7. “She’s Country” – 2008

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  One of Aldean’s signature songs. The song became Aldean's second number one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in May 2009. This song is also used in the video game “Rock Band” Country Track Pack.

• 6. “Hicktown” – 2005

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  Our introduction to Jason Aldean in 2005, “Hicktown” was his debut single, and remains one of his greatest songs.
• 5. “Don’t You Wanna Stay” (with Kelly Clarkson) – 2010

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  Aldean and Clarkson performed the song on several occasions, notably on the tenth season of American Idol and at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. The song was nominated for "Best Country Duo/Group Performance" at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.

• 4. “We Back” – 2019

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  Jason said that the idea for the song came when he sent a request to Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line asking for a song with "tempo" to it. Within a few days, Hubbard contacted him with the finished song, which Aldean immediately liked and chose to record.

• 3. “Amarillo Sky” – 2006

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  An early hit for Jason, it earned him two nominations at the 2006 Academy of Country Music Awards for Video of the Year and Song of The Year as well as video with the best direction at the CMT Music Awards.
• 2. “Big Green Tractor” – 2009

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  This is Aldean’s breakout hit. Within three years the song sold 2,028,000 downloads in the United States. As a ringtone, “Big Green Tractor” became the #1 ringtone in all genres in 2009 becoming the first Country ringtone to hold that distinction and logged more than one million downloads.

• 1. “If I Didn’t Love You” (with Carrie Underwood) – 2021

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  An amazing duet with Carrie Underwood. This song’s story is just beginning as it is nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. The song also is nominated for three categories at the Academy for Country Music Awards 2022 for Single of The Year, Musical Event of the Year, and Video Music of The Year.