Country Radio to Go Silent to Mark Las Vegas Shooting Anniversary
Stations around the U.S. will pause on Monday, October 1st, in honor of the Route 91 Harvest festival victims
Country radio will mark the one-year anniversary of the Route 91 Harvest festival massacre with a moment of silence on Monday, October 1st. In addition, the lights of the hotel and casino signs on the Las Vegas Strip will go dark on Monday evening at 10:01 p.m./PT. Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 500 injured when a gunman opened fire on a crowd watching Jason Aldean perform at the country music festival on October 1st, 2017.
Along with country stations around the U.S., all radio formats in the state of Nevada, record labels, publishers, agencies and other organizations will stop to remember those lost and all who were affected by the tragedy. A current list of confirmed participants includes the Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association, and Nashville record labels including Universal Music Group, Big Machine Label Group and Sony Music Nashville. The country music industry “moment of silence” is set to be observed at 10:05 a.m. PT/1:05 p.m. ET.
Last Friday, Aldean returned to Las Vegas for the iHeartRadio Festival, taking time before his performance to join country DJ Bobby Bones onstage in a tribute to the city’s first responders.
“On behalf of myself and my family and 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.”
Aldean took the stage again about an hour later, playing his first full show in Las Vegas since the 2017 shooting.