Jason Aldean Salutes Route 91 Shooting Victims in Las Vegas [Watch]
Jason Aldean was among those who took the stage in Las Vegas on Friday night (Sept. 21) to remember the victims of the mass shooting that took place at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, and to pay tribute to first responders.
Aldean and radio host Bobby Bones appeared onstage at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival to introduce a video tribute to the victims of the mass shooting, according to Fox News. They took the stage alongside some of the first responders who worked tirelessly to control the chaos and render aid at the scene, with Aldean addressing the crowd.
"On behalf of myself, my family and my family in the country music community, I want to say thank you to the city of Las Vegas for your courage, strength and kindness," Aldean said. "Tonight, we are all proud to be Vegas Strong."
The superstar also performed later in the evening.
Aldean was in the middle of his headlining set on the third and final night of the Route 91 festival when a gunman opened fire on the crowd from his room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel contiguous to the concert site, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds and hundreds more in the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Speaking to reporters backstage on Friday, Aldean reflected that it's been a "daily thing" for him to look back on the events of that day.
"Every night in our meet and greets, we're meeting fans who were here at that show. I don't think we've played a show that we haven't had some of the survivors come out to that show," Aldean said.
"Being back in Vegas this close to the anniversary of it, it's, at times, a little weird," the singer continued, adding, "in another sense, it's nice to be back."
The superstar acknowledged that the memories from the mass shooting are more intense as the anniversary approaches.
"Every year October 1st rolls around that's going to be something we remember and that sticks with us from now on... It's a day that's hard to forget."
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