Aldean Reflects on CMA Wins

Jason Aldean won his first-ever CMA Awards this year: Musical Event and the coveted Album Of the Year.  He told Country Countdown USA’s Lon Helton: “To say that I was excited would be an understatement.  It seemed like awards were one thing that always eluded us a little bit, so I never went into the CMA Awards expecting that kind of thing.  It was cool we got a ton of nominations this year.  When I won the Event before the show, so I was like, OK cool!  I got one!  My first one!  I’m happy!  Then to win Album was incredible.”

Lon asked, does winning an award change how you feel? “For me, it makes you feel good getting that pat on the back from the industry.  I’m not questioning anything.  But at the same time I don’t know that it affects your career in any way. It’s a cool thing to have as bragging rights, but I don’t know if in the grand scheme of things that it affects your career.  We won one award in 2006 at the ACMs, and nothing since, and I’ve still managed to have a great career.  But to be able to say I’m a CMA Award winner is a cool title to have.”

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A lot of people watch those awards show, and maybe that will make them buy your album: “I agree with that completely.  I can tell you the week after the CMAs, our album sales jumped 50%, so it does matter that way.  But at the same time, if you continue to put out hits, the fans will dictate what kind of career you have, and that’s what I’ve kept in mind.  So it was a special night.”

The Musical Event award was for “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” Jason’s duet with Kelly Clarkson.  Jason told Lon that song was not originally written as a duet: “I was going to record it regardless, but the more I heard it, the more I thought it would sound great with a female voice on it.  So one day we were brainstorming about it with my management, and I threw out Kelly’s name.  When she came into the studio and started singing, it was one of those magical things.  It became a hit on country radio, and then I got a pop hit too.  Never thought a guy in a cowboy hat would have a hit on pop radio.”

So is Jason looking for another duet for his next album? “There has been talk about it, but that was such a special moment, and I don’t want to try to capture the same thing, because that thing just happened, and I think that’s the best way.  We have some things for the next record that might be some collaboration stuff, but its a totally different thing than the Kelly thing.  I don’t want to do that again right now.  That was such a cool thing, I don’t want to tarnish it at all.

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