Jason Aldean to Receive ACM Artist of the Decade Award

For the previous three years, Jason Aldean has taken home the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year honor at the annual ACM Awards, owing to his massive tours and ability to generate record sales. This year, he’ll take home an even more rare prize: the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award, with which he’ll be honored at the 54th ACM Awards on April 7th.

The Georgia native, a 13-time ACM Award winner, has steadily risen to country music’s upper echelon since his launch with “Hicktown” in 2005. In 2010, he vaulted into superstar territory with his smash album My Kinda Party, scoring hits with the title track, “Dirt Road Anthem,” “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” “Tattoos on This Town” and “Fly Over States,” as well as mounting several stadium-sized tours in the years that followed. He’s racked up 22 Number One songs in total, including “Drowns the Whiskey” and “You Make It Easy” from his 2018 album Rearview Town. To date, only five other performers have been presented with the Artist of the Decade honor: Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, Alabama, Garth Brooks and George Strait.

“My heroes are on this list, something I can’t really even wrap my head around being part of,” says Aldean in a release. “But, man I’m proud to be getting it — it’s for everyone who stuck with us and supported us through the years.”

Aldean will also perform during the ACM Awards ceremony, which will be hosted by Reba McEntire at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and broadcast live on CBS. Chris Stapleton and Dan + Shay lead this year’s nominations with six apiece, and more performers are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.