1998–2004: Career beginnings After high school, with his father's money, Aldean and his band performed at clubs and festivals around the Southeast. With Justin Weaver (one of the band's members), Aldean began writing and recording original songs. In 1998, he performed songs from his first album at a showcase staged by
Atlanta nightclub The Buckboard. He was approached by
Michael Knox, then of the
Warner-Chappell song-publishing company. After signing with Warner-Chappell, Aldean moved to
Nashville on November 1, 1998, at the age of 21. Aldean was offered a recording contract but was subsequently dropped. He signed with another label but again was dropped in 2000 after his label postponed his recording sessions repeatedly. Various showcases failed to bring him a contract. The last straw was an attempt at the Wildhorse Saloon where the promised label talent scouts never showed up. Frustrated and discouraged with his struggling career, Aldean gave himself six months before planning to leave Nashville and return home to Georgia. Then five weeks later, he was offered a deal from
Broken Bow Records in Nashville. Shortly after the release of
his self-titled debut album, Aldean picked up his new (and current) agent Kevin Neal. While recording
Relentless, Aldean moved to Clarence Spalding and Spalding Entertainment for management.
2005–2008: Jason Aldean and Relentless Aldean's debut single, "
Hicktown", was released in early 2005. The album contained his first number one hit with "
Why". In an interview with
Shave Magazine, Aldean explained that working with Bryan on
Crossroads "was great" and that "[h]e was a lot of fun." But the real highlight for him was that he was working with Randy Owen. "I am a big fan of
Alabama so I got a chance to work with
Randy Owen on this album (it didn't make the album but it eventually made a bonus track). It was really cool. Alabama were like '
The Beatles' for me so working with him was definitely one of the highlights," he said "I mean, both of those guys were really cool moments, but if I had to pick one highlight, it would be working with Randy [Owen] this year." A live DVD titled
Wide Open Live & More was released on August 25, 2009. At the 2010 CMT Music Awards, Aldean picked up 3 nominations in Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year for "The Truth", as well as Collaborative Video of the Year and CMT Performance of the Year for his performance of "Heaven" with Bryan Adams. In August 2010, Aldean released the single "
My Kinda Party", which entered the Hot Country Songs chart at No. 41. It marks as Aldean's tenth top-10 country hit. In March 2011, the song was chosen as the third single from
My Kinda Party. Aldean also collaborated with Ludacris for the song at the 2011
CMT Music Awards in
Nashville, Tennessee on June 8, 2011. In addition to making #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart "Don't You Wanna Stay" received a Grammy nomination for
Best Country Duo/Group Performance, but lost to
The Civil Wars at the
54th Grammy Awards on February 12, 2012. The fourth single from the album was "
Tattoos on This Town", which peaked at No. 2, During a radio interview on May 18, Aldean hinted at another possible collaboration with
Ludacris. He did state that it would not be on
Night Train. On December 16, 2014, Ludacris released an Extended Play titled
Burning Bridges, in which the title track featured him and Aldean as a duet. Aldean performed "My Kinda Party" during the
People's Choice Awards on January 9, 2013. On June 5, 2013, Jason Aldean co-hosted the
2013 CMT Music Awards with actress
Kristen Bell. He and
Lenny Kravitz opened the awards show singing "
American Woman". On July 22, 2014, Aldean released a new single "
Burnin' It Down". This song would serve as the lead single off his sixth studio album
Old Boots, New Dirt, which was released on October 7, 2014. This song reached No. 1 both on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. the only country star to release a platinum-seller in 2014, and joins only Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande in platinum album certifications for collections released this year.
2016–2018: ''They Don't Know and Rearview Town'' In July 2016 it was announced that the seventh regular studio album, ''
They Don't Know'', was set for release on September 9 of that year. Again produced by Michael Knox, the album was preceded by the single "
Lights Come On", released to country radio on April 1, 2016. The album's second single, "
A Little More Summertime", released to country radio on July 15, 2016. The album's third single, "
Any Ol' Barstool", was released to country radio on December 5, 2016. The album's fourth and final single, the title track of the album, was released to country radio on May 8, 2017. At the 2016 ACM Awards, Aldean was awarded Entertainer of the Year for the first time in his career. He would go on to win that award in 2017 and also 2018. In March 2017, Aldean announced that he is working on his eighth album, titled
Rearview Town, which was released on April 13, 2018. The lead single, "You Make It Easy", was released on January 26, 2018. On October 1, 2017, Aldean had just begun performing "
When She Says Baby" at the
Route 91 Harvest music festival on the
Las Vegas Strip in
Paradise, Nevada, when
Stephen Paddock began
firing into the crowd from the 32nd floor of the
Mandalay Bay Resort. Aldean and his band managed to exit the stage unharmed but 60 concertgoers died and 867 others were injured during the incident. On October 7, Aldean opened
Saturday Night Live with words of support for those hurting in the aftermath of the shooting, saying that "we witnessed one of the worst tragedies in American history. Like everyone, I'm struggling to understand what happened that night (and why) and how to pick up the pieces and start to heal. But you can be sure that we're going to walk through these tough times together, every step of the way. Because when America is at its best, our bond and our spirit — it's unbreakable." He then performed a cover of "
I Won't Back Down" by
Tom Petty, who had died five days earlier.
2019–2023: 9 and Macon, Georgia Aldean performed at the 2019
Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum Concert and Induction Ceremony. Aldean's ninth album, titled
9, was released on November 22, 2019. The album's first single, "
We Back" released to country radio on September 9, 2019. It peaked at number 6 on the Country Airplay in March 2020 and number 1 on the Canadian Country chart. The album's second single, "
Got What I Got" released to country radio on April 6, 2020. "
Blame It on You" was released on October 26, 2020, as the album's third and final single. On July 23, 2021, Aldean released the single "
If I Didn't Love You", featuring
Carrie Underwood. It was the leadoff single to his tenth studio album, a
double album project titled
Macon, Georgia. The first half,
Macon, was released on November 12, 2021. On January 14, 2022, "
Trouble with a Heartbreak" was released as the album's second single and was the leadoff single to the second half of the album,
Georgia, which was released on April 22, 2022. On March 25, 2022, Aldean and
Brantley Gilbert released the single "
Rolex® on a Redneck". On July 18, 2022, Aldean released "
That's What Tequila Does" to
country radio as the third and final single off
Macon, Georgia. In November 2022, Aldean released his version of
Alabama's "
Christmas in Dixie".
2023–2025: "Try That in a Small Town" and Highway Desperado On May 19, 2023, Aldean released "Try That in a Small Town" as the lead single from his eleventh album. Its music video was released on July 14, generating controversy for invoking imagery related to the 2020
George Floyd protests while being filmed in front of the
Maury County courthouse, the site of a 1946 race riot and a 1927
lynching of a Black man. Four days after its release,
CMT pulled the music video from air. The song and video were denounced by fellow musicians including
Sheryl Crow,
Jason Isbell and
Margo Price while drawing support from country musicians
Cody Johnson and
Brantley Gilbert and then-former president
Donald Trump. Amid the controversy, the song debuted at number two on the
Billboard Hot 100, Aldean's best chart performance of his career. The next week, it rose to number one and became Aldean's first national chart-topper. On August 24, 2023, Aldean announced his eleventh album
Highway Desperado, which was released on November 3, 2023, and released the song "
Let Your Boys Be Country" the following day, on August 25. "Let Your Boys Be Country" was later released as the album's second single on November 27, 2023. "
Whiskey Drink", also originally a promotional single, would be released to country radio on July 24, 2024 as the album's third single.
2025-present: "How Far Does a Goodbye Go" and Songs About Us On September 12, 2025, Aldean released "
How Far Does a Goodbye Go" as the lead single from his twelfth album,
Songs About Us. The album was announced on November 7, 2025, and is set to be released on April 24, 2026. ==Personal life==