Jason Aldean pays tribute to Route 91 Harvest victims: 'This will always be a tough day for us'

Tuesday marks a heartbreaking anniversary for country music fans and their loved ones.

It was on Oct. 1, 2017, that 58 people died and more than 400 were wounded while attending the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas when a gunman fired into the crowd from the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel.

Jason Aldean performs at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Photo: Mindy Small/FilmMagic)
Jason Aldean performs at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Photo: Mindy Small/FilmMagic)

Singer Jason Aldean, who was onstage when the shooting began, acknowledged the sad event with a statement shared on social media: “This will always be a tough day for us,” he wrote. Aldean added that he thinks about the victims daily.

His wife, Brittany, said the day will always be a “tragic memory,” and she shared a photo of her and her husband’s backs, looking toward Mandalay Bay.

Singer Chris Young, who was watching Route 91 from backstage, has repeatedly referred to the tragedy as the “scariest night of my life.” He did so again in his remembrance of the date. Young also advised everyone to, “Hug your friends and loved ones today.”

The Route 91 Harvest festival wasn’t held in 2018. There was talk of reviving it in 2019, but no specific plans have been unveiled yet. The official website for the festival still pays tribute to victims of the country’s deadliest mass shooting in modern history.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal remembered each of the people who were killed on Oct. 1, 2017 in a series of profiles.

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