Jason Aldean was performing on-stage when shots were fired at a music festival in Las Vegas, and now the singer is opening up about his feelings, and the state of the country.
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On Tuesday, the country singer posted a message on Instagram, expressing his emotions about the horrific events at the Route 91 Harvest Festival Sunday night.
Among his thoughts, Aldean talks about his “anger” and “heartache” felt over the 24 hours since the tragedy that left at least 59 dead, and hundreds wounded.
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Aldean also opens up about his fear for America. “Something has changed in this country and in this world lately that is scary to see,” he said. “This world is becoming the kind of place I am afraid to raise my children in.”
“Just know you all are in my heart and my prayers as we all go through this together,” Aldean concludes. “Time to come together and stop the hate!”
Aldean had been scheduled to perform this weekend, but under the circumstances has announced the cancellation of his upcoming shows.
“As a result of what happened in Las Vegas this week, we have decided to cancel this coming weekend’s shows,” said the singer in a statement. “I feel like out of respect for the victims, their families and our fans, it is the right thing to do. It has been an emotional time for everyone involved this week, so we plan to take some time to mourn the ones we have lost and be close with our family and friends.”
The statement continued: “Our plan is to resume the tour the following week in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our first time back onstage will be a very tough and emotional thing for us, but we will all get through it together and honour the people we lost by doing the only thing we know how to do – play our songs for them. I hope everyone understands why we can’t play this weekend and I’m sorry if anyone is disappointed.”
Aldean concluded: “I want to say thank you for the outpouring of love from my friends and fans we have received over the last couple days. You guys have no idea how much you have helped get us through this tough time. Thank you and God bless.”
His wife, Brittany Aldean, shared her own message in the aftermath of the shooting. “Took me a while to be able to write these words,” she captioned her post on Thursday. “Thank you to everyone who has reached out to Jason and I.”