As the country music world gears up for the 2018 ACM Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday (April 15), Jason Aldean says going to the annual awards show will be the best time to revisit the city following October's Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting. The country superstar was onstage when the incident, during which 58 people were killed and hundreds more were injured, began.

"If we're going to go back, I think the ACMs are the place to go back and be," Aldean tells Taste of Country, "because you're surrounded by all your friends and artists ... You kind of feel like you have a support system there."

The ACM Awards will be the first time that many country music stars have returned to Vegas since the Route 91 tragedy. While Aldean and his wife Brittany (who was also at the festival that night) returned to Las Vegas to visit those injured in the attack one week later, he says going back for the ACMs will help him remember better days there, including when he won his first country award ever.

"For what happened in October, I've also experienced a lot of really high points of my career out there, too," Aldean says, "so I don't have all bad memories of Las Vegas."

At the 2018 ACM Awards, Aldean is in the running for Entertainer of the Year, up against Garth BrooksLuke BryanChris Stapleton and Keith Urban. The 2018 ACM Awards will air live on CBS beginning at 8PM ET; the ceremony will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The Boot will be staying up late covering the most buzzed-about winners, fashion and moments at the 2018 ACM Awards. Readers can watch along with us by checking back to TheBoot.com for the latest ACMs headlines, liking The Boot on Facebook and following The Boot on Twitter.

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