While Jason Aldean's performance at the 2024 CMT Music Awards was pretty straightforward for the country producer, his appearance at the network's signature awards show had some raising eyebrows.
Singing “Let Your Boys Be Country,” a legendary rocker from his album 2023 Highway Desperado and the top 20 hit on Advertising signOn the Country Airplay chart, Aldean showed why he is one of the most reliable live acts in the genre. Although the show was broadcast from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, Aldean's performance was filmed outdoors at the University of Texas at Austin.
More than a few people — critics and Aldean fans alike — wondered why it was included as part of the show. Not long ago, CMT pulled Aldean's “Try That In a Small Town” music video from the air, prompted by criticism from people who said the video demonized Black Lives Matter, if not black people in general. with some going so far as to call it a “modern lynch song”. Definitely a pro-gun, anti-protest song that positions small-town America as morally superior to big cities, “Small Town” wasn't a smash hit for Aldean until controversy turned it into a political lightning rod. The ensuing debate ended up pushing the song to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, with Aldean's defenders backing it despite critics.
When Aldean tweeted about his performance on CMT on April 3, comments on X indicated that the polarizing song continues to define the public's perception of Aldean. Some fans questioned why Aldean would be involved with CMT after they shot his video. Some said they were no longer fans after “Small Town”. and some subtweeted the CMT Awards for platforming him. Many X users, however, simply expressed excitement.
By the way, Aldean's CMT performance took place under UT Austin's main building, also known as The Tower. In 1966, the Tower was the site of a massacre when a student took a rifle and fatally shot 14 people from the observation deck. Aldean's own story, unfortunately, touches on another gun massacre in American history. During the 2017 Route 91 music festival in Las Vegas, a gunman opened fire on the crowd during Aldean's closing set, killing 60 people.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/jason-aldean-ban-2024-cmt-music-awards-performance-1235650886/