Jason Aldean Pays Tribute To Las Vegas Shooting Victims & Tom Petty On 'SNL'

Source: SNL

By:OK! Staff

Oct. 8 2017, Updated 1:44 p.m. ET

Jason Aldean made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live last night to honor the victims of the Las Vegas shooting, as well as to pay tribute to Tom Petty, the rock legend who died Monday, Oct. 2.

In the show’s cold open, Jason, who was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas last Sunday when the shooting began, addressed the tragedy before he performed the Tom Petty hit, “I Won’t Back Down.”

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“This week we witnessed one of the worst tragedies in American history,” Jason began. “Like everyone, I’m struggling to understand what happened that night and how to pick up the pieces and start to heal."

“So many people are hurting,” Jason continued. “There are children, parents, brothers, sisters, friends. They’re all part of our family.”

“So I want to say to them, we hurt for you and we hurt with you, and you can be sure we’re going to walk through these tough times together, every step of the way. Because when America is at its best, our bond and our spirit, it's unbreakable,” he finished.

After the shooting occurred, Jason took to Instagram to express his heartbreak over the tragedy and ask America to “stand together as one.” “That is the only way we will ever get this Country to be better than it has ever been, but we have a long way to go and we have to start now,” he wrote.