Jason Aldean Recalls Horrific Details of Las Vegas Shooting
"We were that close. My bass player who stands to my left had a bullet lodged in his guitar," said Aldean.
Nearly four months ago, Jason Aldean was one of the many people affected by the senseless shooting in Las Vegas at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. The road to recovery has been a long and bumpy one for everyone involved, including for Aldean himself.
In the weeks following the attack, the Georgia native and his band quietly recovered from the mental anguish at home but it wasn’t until they received their instruments back nearly two weeks later that the reality of the situation really sunk in.
“We finally started getting all of our gear back, and my bass player opened up his bass, and there was a bullet lodged in his bass,” Aldean recalled during a conversation with Sirius XM’s Storme Warren, who was also at the Route 91 festival during the shooting. “We were that close. My bass player who stands to my left had a bullet lodged in his guitar.”
The instrument, in fact, is what Aldean credits for saving the musician’s life that day.
“The one he was wearing for that particular song is a solid ash bass,” he continued. “It’s pretty heavy wood. Pretty thick. When [the bullet] hit, it just lodged in it. Sometimes basses are chambered, or there are holes throughout the bass. If it had been any other bass, the bullet probably would’ve gone through and hit him in the gut.”
The reality of the situation hit home to Aldean and his crew, but they knew the only way to face what they’d gone through was to get right back out on the stage to perform for fans. “Out of all the shows I’ve ever played, this happened one time. It’s not the norm,” he acknowledged. “Getting back out and doing what it is we do — that to me is the only way to honor anybody.”
Performing for fans was just one of the many ways Aldean could begin the healing process after such a horrific event. The singer admits that it was the birth of his son, Memphis, that let him see the light once again.
“One of the things that helped me personally was the birth of my son,” explained Aldean. “Within a couple of months, I saw the worst thing you could possibly experience and the best thing you could possibly experience, with him being born. It gave me a reason to look forward to the new year.”
With that brighter future ahead, Aldean has already begun to share the project he’s been working on. On Friday morning (1/26), the singer revealed his plans for his eighth studio album, Rearview Town, featuring the lead single “You Make It Easy.” Fans can get their hands on Rearview Town beginning April 13.
