When presenter Joe Walsh announced Jason Aldean (and his red jacket) as the ACM Entertainer of the Year on Sunday night (April 2), Jason became one of 10 artists in the 52-year history of the show to win the award in back-to-back years.
Jason joins the exclusive company of past back-to-back winners Roy Clark (1972–73), Alabama (1981–85), Hank Williams Jr. (1986–88), Garth Brooks (1990–93, 1997–98), Brooks & Dunn (1995–96), Toby Keith (2002–03), Kenny Chesney (2004–07), Carrie Underwood (2008–09) and Taylor Swift (2010–11).
“You know, I think for us more than anything, we spend all year going out touring doing our thing for the fans, doing our shows and, to me, that’s what the Entertainer of the Year is about,” said Jason backstage at the ACMs after the win. “I mean, people can make their case that it’s about this, that, whatever—to me it’s about a touring award. It will always be that, and that to me is the most important part of what we do, and to win that award, to me, is the most important, you know, award there is out there, maybe other than a platinum record.”
While Jason still has plenty of work to do to top Alabama’s five-year stretch of consecutively winning the award from 1981–1985, two wins in a row is a nice feather in his cap—or cowboy hat, for that matter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss23NiwWH4I
photo by Jason Simanek
