Country Music Star Jason Aldean Definitely Knows Who He Is

Oh, the headlines Jason Aldean has made in recent times.

So far, this year, they've included him opening his namesake restaurant in Pittsburgh and being nominated for Country Music Television's "Video of the Year" for the visuals of his song "Let Your Boys Be Country." However, he ignited a political firestorm last year when he released the video for his song "Try That in a Small Town," which included scenes of people protesting that evoked the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. Aldean's choice of performing in front of the Maury County Courthouse building in Columbia, Tennessee, for the video was also called out. The courthouse was the site where a white mob lynched an 18-year-old Black man in 1927, as well as race riots in 1946.

"I don't feel bad about that because I know my intentions behind, you know, shooting the video there and recording the song and everything," Aldean told CBS News in November, with his team pointing out that in the South, it would be difficult to find a small-town courthouse where some racial issue hasn't occurred. Still, Aldean conceded that if he had known the site's history, he would have chosen another location.

But the controversy only seems to have endeared Aldean to country music's historically conservative fanbase, who helped the song peak at number one on Billboard's Hot Country Songs and Hot 100 charts. And if Aldean's track record is any indication, he'll likely keep making headlines as he has done so through his more than 25 years in the country music industry.

He has eleven studio albums to his name (the latest being 2023's Highway Desperado), singalong hits that even country-haters will hum along to ("Dirt Road Anthem" and "Burnin' It Down" among them), and he continues to headline some of the biggest festivals near and far, including Tortuga Music Festival on Fort Lauderdale Beach on Sunday, April 7.

The three-day country music festival kicks off Friday, April 5, and features fellow country headliners Lainey Wilson (April 5) and Hardy (April 6), as well as acts from across the musical spectrum, such as TLC, Boyz II Men, Bret Michaels, and Michael Franti & Spearhead.
The show serves as a bit of a homecoming for Aldean, who moved to Florida's Treasure Coast in 2022. "I am definitely a fan of Florida beaches," he tells New Times ahead of his festival appearance. "It continues to be a place that's special to me and the family."

The last time Aldean headlined Tortuga was in 2019 alongside Thomas Rhett and Kenny Chesney. "The crowd, the fans — Tortuga is always a great one to play, and being at the beach is always a great environment," he says of the festival's setting.

Speaking of the environment, ocean conservation and sustainability continue to be cornerstones of Tortuga. Since its inception in 2013, the festival has been a fundraiser for the nonprofit Rock the Ocean, raising more than $4 million along the way. There's an onsite "Conservation Village" with various vendors like the Guy Harvey Foundation and Loggerhead Marinelife Center, educating folks on the little things that can help save our oceans.

Beyond performing on Fort Lauderdale Beach, Aldean will kick off the second leg of his Highway Desperado Tour in May with dates through October. "We're getting to go back out to markets we haven't been to recently, including my hometown in Georgia," he says. "It's been great to get to play more of the new music for fans."

While Aldean wasn't keen on commenting on last year's firestorm, he did share some advice for anyone getting into the music business who may one day make headlines: "Know who you are and be who you are."

Tortuga Music Festival 2024. 1 to 10 p.m. Friday, April 5, through Sunday, April 7, at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park, at 1100 Seabreeze Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; tortugamusicfestival.com. Tickets cost $149 to $1,549 via frontgatetickets.com.