Jason Aldean reveals emotional struggle after Route 91 shooting in new interview
Country star discusses ‘breakdown’ and survivor’s guilt nearly eight years after Las Vegas tragedy
Country music star Jason Aldean has opened up about the profound emotional impact of the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting, revealing he experienced a “breakdown” months after performing on stage during the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in U.S. history.
In a candid interview on the “Armchair Expert” podcast released September 1, Aldean, now 48, shared intimate details about his struggle with survivor’s guilt and the emotional toll the October 1, 2017 tragedy took on him and his family. The shooting claimed 60 lives and injured more than 800 people when a gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.
A whirlwind of grief and obligations
Aldean described the immediate aftermath as a blur of family reunions and professional obligations. After returning home the day after the shooting, he was met by his crying mother and learned his oldest daughter had been terrified at school, believing someone was trying to shoot her father.
Just days later, Aldean honored a commitment to open “Saturday Night Live,” then immediately returned to Las Vegas to visit victims in hospitals. “That was tough,” he shared with host Dax Shepard. “People hadn’t recovered from their wounds yet.”
The country star completed another month of tour dates before returning home for the birth of his son Memphis two months after the shooting. It was during this quieter period that the weight of the experience finally caught up with him.
The breaking point
“I kind of had a breakdown in my house one day,” Aldean admitted. “It was after my son was born and just all that heaviness of everything, just getting laid on you.”
The singer explained his emotional turmoil stemmed from contemplating all the near-misses and what-ifs from that night. His bass player and best friend of 25 years had a bullet lodged in his bass guitar that he was wearing on stage. Despite none of his crew members being physically injured, Aldean struggled with complex feelings of relief mixed with guilt.
“You’re happy about that, but then you’re like, feel guilty to be happy about it… there’s like this guilt-ridden thing,” he explained, acknowledging the difficulty of processing such conflicting emotions while 60 people had lost their lives.
Choosing community over therapy
When asked if he sought professional therapy, Aldean responded that he was “too Southern,” though he noted the irony that his team funded therapy for crew members and others affected by the shooting. Instead, he found healing through conversations with his wife Brittany, who was eight months pregnant at the time of the shooting, his band members, and others who shared the experience.
“My therapy was me, my wife, my band, all of us that were kind of there. We all talked about it amongst each other,” he said.
Forever connected to Las Vegas
Nearly eight years later, Aldean acknowledges the shooting will “forever connect us to that city.” He and his wife continue to mark the anniversary each year, with Aldean noting that October 1 “never gets easier.”
Despite the trauma, Aldean expressed a desire to return to Las Vegas for an extended period, possibly for a residency. “At some point you can either kind of run from it or accept it and try and make something good out of it. And that’s kind of what we tried to do,” he reflected.
The Route 91 shooting remains a defining moment in Las Vegas history and continues to impact survivors, first responders, and the broader community. Aldean’s willingness to share his emotional journey adds another layer to understanding the long-lasting effects of that tragic night on those who lived through it.
Image Sources: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/jason-aldean-details-breakdown-months-132700931.html
Category: Local News
Subcategory: Entertainment, Events
Date: 09/3/2025
