Jason Aldean was on stage when the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history erupted.
Country music star Jason Aldean will return to Las Vegas this weekend to perform in the city for the first time since a gunman opened fire while he was onstage, killing 58 people and injuring scores more.
"I have one really horrible memory from Las Vegas, but I have a thousand great ones," said Aldean, who is nominated for entertainer of the year and male vocalist of the year at Sunday's Academy of Country Music Awards to be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Aldean and his wife, Brittany, returned to Vegas one week after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, to visit some who were wounded as bullets rained down on them at the Route 91 Harvest festival.
"I've had some really career-defining moments [in Las Vegas]," Aldean said in a recent interview. "Winning my first award there in '06 and winning entertainer of the year, male vocalist and all the stuff I have ever done in Vegas," he said.
He is competing for entertainer of the year against Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban.
It will also be a first for Carrie Underwood, who took a nasty fall in November that left her with about 40 facial stitches and an injured wrist. She will perform a new single in her first public performance since her accident.
The awards show will feature crossover performances with Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line, whose hit "Meant to Be" is high on the country charts. Keith Urban and Julia Michaels are slated to sing "Coming Home," which is based on a Merle Haggard guitar rift.
The live broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. on CBS.
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