Jason Aldine Williams, aka Jason Aldean, grew up in Georgia with a love of both sports and music. He is the son of divorced parents and raised by his mother, spending summers with his father in Florida.
Jason started performing around his hometown of Macon when he was a teenager and soon he was pressed to choose between sports and music.
Ultimately, he chose music, turning down a free ride to college on a baseball scholarship in the process.
“I just couldn’t see going to school for four more years,” he says.
“It was hard enough to get out of high school. I went to school basically because I had to and because I wanted to play baseball. That was about it.”
So at 21 years old, Aldean moved to Nashville to chase his country music dream like many others before him.
photo: gotcountryonline.com
It wasn’t instant success at first. He worked the streets performing at open mics and bars on Broadway when he finally earned the attention of producer Michael Knox. He signed a publishing contract, landed two separate recording contracts, both of which ended without producing an album.
It wasn’t until he got a manager did his current situation with Broken Bow Records come about.
Aldean’s self-titled debut album was released in 2005 and spawned three hit singles, including the No. 1 song “Why” and his first platinum-selling tune, “Amarillo Sky.”
However his third record, Wide Open, is what made Aldean into a star.
The debut single from the disc, “She’s Country,” sold more than two million copies, as did the follow-up song, “Big Green Tractor.”
Aldean’s fourth studio album, My Kinda Party, sold over three million copies and included his biggest single to date, “Dirt Road Anthem,” which was certified quadruple platinum, for sales of four million units.
You’ve come a long way Jason, here’s to you on your birthday!!
