Is Jason Aldean Slowing Down After Nine Albums?
Nine albums into his career, is the superstar ready to ride into the sunset? No chance.
Jason Aldean has spent more than a decade at the pinnacle of country stardom, and as he heads into the November 22 release of his ninth studio album, 9, it’s only natural to think about the larger arc of his career.
He’s posted almost two dozen No.1s, sold more than 18 million albums and hoisted countless awards-show trophies — including the ACM’s coveted Artist of the Decade honor this year. But with young children at home and so much behind him, how long does the country-rock icon plan to keep going? Has he begun to plan out an exit strategy?
Country fans can rest easy, because Aldean has a simple answer to that question. “No,” he said bluntly during a press conference in Nashville Wednesday (October 23) — although that doesn’t mean the thought has crossed his mind.
“I’m too young to retire,” Aldean said with a smile. “That was the thing that was weird about winning the Artist of the Decade thing this year, though, it almost felt like that was a retirement award or something.”
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Aldean said he still feels like a new artist at heart, and even at 42 years old thinks he has a long way to go. “I just feel like at this point it’s kind of a ‘lifer’ gig,” the Georgia native explains. “I may not be doing it on the level that I’m at now, but I’ll always be able to go and play as long as people want to show up.”
Life does have a way of forcing your hand, though, and Aldean admits he’s slowed down since the birth of his third child, Memphis, in 2017. But then again, he didn’t really have much choice — even if he does still love getting onstage.
“We only had one way to go, and that was to slow down,” Aldean said. “In the early days of playing 200 shows a year, being on the road 250 days a year … you can’t do any more than we were doing. I think at that point, after Memphis was born, I did make a conscious effort to back off a little bit – and I say that, but we probably went from playing 75 shows to 55 shows – so just to make it where I’m home a few more weekends a year. But I never see that time when I’m just retiring or not touring, anything like that. I still enjoy it too much to not do it at all, and with the younger ones, I want them to grow up and see some of that stuff, experience it a little bit. I don’t want them to see all that stuff just in pictures from the past or videos or whatever. So I don’t see retiring — maybe ever.”
True to his word, the next six months are already booked. Along with his album release and a first-ever Las Vegas residency set for December, plans are already out for Aldean’s 2020 We Back Tour, which kicks off January 30 in Columbia, South Carolina, with Morgan Wallen and Riley Green.
