Jason Aldean and family check out Bryant-Denny Stadium in Alabama
Country star Jason Aldean and his wife, Brittany Kerr Aldean, have a house divided. She roots for the Crimson Tide — as befits anyone who’s attended the University of Alabama — while he’s a steadfast fan of the Georgia Bulldogs.
But that didn’t stop the couple from paying a visit to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sunday with their two young children, Memphis and Navy Rome. From what we can tell, the Aldeans had the place (with a capacity of more than 100,000 people) all to themselves.
The singer, 46, was playing a concert that night at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, and this evidently provided an impetus for the visit to Bryant-Denny. It’s not unusual for celebrities to visit the stadium when they come to town, or receive VIP treatment with private tours that include the “Walk of Champions” tunnel linking the players’ locker room to the field.
Brittany Aldean, 35, posted photos and videos on Instagram to commemorate the occasion, saying, “Brought my Georgia boy to my alma mater🐘❤️ Thank you for letting us tour the stadium today, brought back so many memories🥹 @univofalabama @alabamafbl ROLL TIDE!”
One video in her post shows the couple holding hands as they walk on the field at Bryant-Denny, accompanied by a brief music clip from Morgan Wallen’s “Tennessee Fan.” (It’s a point in the song where the lyrics say, “Yeah, she was raised Roll Tide ‘til the day she died.”) Another shows Brittany spreading her arms wide at the stadium, giving a little hop and saying, “I’m so happy!”
Despite his longstanding support for one of the Tide’s rivals — and his own Instagram posts touting Georgia’s primacy as national champs — Aldean seems to happily indulge his wife’s fondness for Alabama football, smiling in the Sunday photos and hugging Brittany on the field.
As Brittany L. Kerr, she graduated from the University of Alabama in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in human environmental sciences, according to the university’s website and a summer commencement program from that year. The North Carolina native — a former “American Idol” contestant and NBA cheerleader for the Charlotte Bobcats — is now a social media personality and fashionista with 2.5 million followers on Instagram.
She’s previously showcased her allegiance to the Crimson Tide on social media, trying to coax her husband to say “Roll Tide” in an Instagram video posted on June 7. “I ain’t doing it,” says Aldean, who was born and raised in Macon, Georgia. “Go Dawgs.”
Aldean, who has a long history of performances in Alabama, played to a sellout crowd in Tuscaloosa on Sunday, Aug. 6, according to the amphitheater’s social media. He’s also set to perform at the Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach on Aug. 26. The star is known for multiplatinum albums such as “My Kinda Party” and “Night Train,” as well as hit singles that include “Dirt Road Anthem,” “Flyover States,” “Burnin’ It Down,” “Tattoos on This Town,” “You Make It Easy” and more.
Aldean’s most recent No. 1, “Try That in a Small Town,” has been a lightning rod for controversy in recent weeks, especially after CMT pulled a video for the song that features the star and his band performing in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, the site where a Black teenager was lynched in 1927. The original video also includes images of demonstrators, including footage of Black Lives Matter protests, that are projected onto the courthouse. (Some of the footage was later cut from the clip, according to The Washington Post.)
Critics blasted Aldean’s video, saying it advocated vigilante violence and lynching, and included racist dog whistles. Aldean defended the video via social media, calling the accusations “not only meritless, but dangerous.” He also said the video offered a positive take on small towns. “There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it,” Aldean said.
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Aldean, who included “Try That in a Small Town” in his Sunday setlist at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, has called himself a target of “cancel culture.” Brittany Aldean also has chimed in via Instagram Stories, saying the media was creating a “repulsive narrative” about her husband, according to reports by Billboard and other entertainment sites.
One of Brittany’s clothing lines, dubbed “Legendary,” is linked to “Try That in a Small Town” and includes T-shirts, caps and other items that feature the song title or her husband’s photo. They’re part of the Brittany & Kasi line of merchandise, launched in 2021 with Aldean’s sister, Kasi Rosa Wicks. The clothing is meant to promote “patriotic values and being proud Americans,” Brittany said in November 2021, announcing the venture on Instagram.