Jason Aldean: The EW Pop Culture Personality Test
You ask why we do so many EW Pop Culture Personality Tests with male country singers. The answer: Because we like their music, and they like doing interviews in bars. We recently grabbed a Bud Light with Georgia native Jason Aldean, whose third album, Wide Open, just debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Look for Aldean, the 32-year-old southern rocker known for the hits “Hicktown,” “Johnny Cash,” and his latest, “She’s Country,” opening for Keith Urban this summer.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When do you yell at the TV?
JASON ALDEAN: When I’m watching the Atlanta Braves or Georgia Bulldogs. Probably college football more than anything. I think my wife gets annoyed at me on Saturdays when I’m at home. The other one is Deal or No Deal. I never want ’em to take the deal. I want to tell them which ones to pick, and they never listen to me.
Have you ever hit the million?
Yes! I have my lucky numbers, and occasionally I hit it. My main lucky number is 9. That was my baseball number in high school. My other lucky number is 3, because that’s the one I wore before I got to high school and had to pick a different one. My six-year-old daughter just started playing softball this year, and she got #3, too, so that’s kinda cool.
I was always #23 for Ryne Sandberg from the Chicago Cubs.
I was Dale Murphy for the Braves. That’s where the #3 came from.
Not Dale Earnhardt.
No. [Leans into tape recorder] Dale Murphy.
Are you a TV person?
The DVR thing has rocked my world. Being on the road, I used to not keep up with any shows. Now I got a DVR, so I’m watching everything: CSI: Miami, my favorites Criminal Minds and The Mentalist. I like some of the HBO stuff, Entourage and Eastbound & Down. My wife got me into the Grey’s Anatomy deal, so I’m watching that. I could tell you all about that. Izzie’s got some kind of cancer, so it’s nail-bitin’ right now.
Were you a fan of Ghost Denny?
I was ready for him to go away. You can only do so much with a dead guy on a show, you know what I mean. It’s been better since he left…. That’s a man’s show right there, by god. [Laughs]
Well, Owen [Kevin McKidd] looks manly.
The redheaded dude? Yeah, yeah. He’s a freak. He’s like strangling her in the bed. Have you seen that episode? Jesus. See a counselor for God’s sake.
What is your position on karaoke?
I think karaoke is the s—. I think that is the funnest thing ever to get really drunk and go to a karaoke bar and get up there act stupid. Now one thing I think is really lame, is if you’re an artist and you go to a karaoke bar and sing your own song. I like to get up there and sing stuff that I would never sing on stage anywhere else. Like Neil Diamond. [Sings] “Sweet Caroline,” that’s one of my standards.
And you do the “So good, so good, so good”?
Oh yeah. I do, like, the Red Sox version of that one. I have a couple friends in Georgia and we do “Seven Bridges Road.” “Superstition.” Sometimes I just open the book and put my finger on a song. It may be ‘N Sync, you never know.
Which ‘N Sync song have you done?
I’ve never done an ‘N Sync song; let me clarify that. I was kidding. Sometimes I’ll get in there and do something really cool like Otis Redding or Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away,” if I’m not smashed yet, as a kind of warm up for “Sweet Caroline.”
Do you have a guilty pleasure dance song?
Hell no. I don’t dance, so I can answer that one quick.
What do you mean you don’t dance?
I don’t dance! “Gold Digger” though… I’ll tell you what, it has to be a Petrón night, like the tequila goggles are on and I’m in the spirit world, and the one song that may make it happen is “Gold Digger.”
What’s your ringtone?
“Midnight Rider” by the Allman Brothers.
The movie you have to watch every time you spot it on cable?
Life. Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. It’s like the funniest movie ever. I know this is random, but I’m like the biggest Martin Lawrence fan. I was a huge fan of his TV show. I actually remember watching him on What’s Happening Now!, even before he had his own show. Something about that guy cracks me up, I don’t know what it is.
Did you see Wild Hogs? I will admit I enjoyed that.
William H. Macy was great in that movie. I think he kinda stole that movie.
And Nothing in Common with Tim Robbins?
Nothing to Lose.
Right. Nothing to Lose… Wow.
I have ’em all. I have ’em all on DVD.
I was one of two people in the theater when I saw Nothing to Lose. Totally underrated.
Oh yeah. And I have A Thin Line Between Love and Hate. Even the ones like that no one went to see, I have those.
The chick flick you’ll admit to liking?
The Notebook.
You are the third guy to tell me that [after Billy Currington and Jake Owen]. Did it make you cry?
No. But I thought it was a great movie. I actually did not want to go see it. Kanye! [Kanye West’s “Heartless” comes on the jukebox. He dances a little in his seat. Then stops.]
Oh, you just did that.
Yeah. This is my other jam. [Laughs, dances again.] What were we talking about?
The Notebook and how it’s your favorite movie of all time.
No, it’s not. [That’s Field of Dreams, for the record.]
But why do men respond to it? Because it feels like it’s being told from the male point-of-view?
I think, too, it’s because the main part of the movie the characters are young, and it’s somethin’ I can relate to. When it’s Richard Gere and Diane Lane, who are great actors, it’s older. I don’t relate to the story. Another one I went to see was How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. My wife drug me to see that one, too. It was cool.
The person you’re most often mistaken for?
The only person that anybody’s ever said I resemble is a young Elvis. It used to happen a lot more when I was younger, and more when I don’t wear a hat. This girl I dated in high school, her mom was an Elvis freak and she was the first one to tell me that when I was 16, 17. The older I got, more and more people started saying it… And they’re talkin’ about the young, really good-lookin’ Elvis. Not the old Elvis. I’m a big Elvis fan though.
’68 Comeback Special Elvis would be okay.
’68. Yes. Black leather. Bitchin’. That’s the one. Not ’77. I was born in February ’77, and he died that year. If I ever had a chance to meet somebody, it’d be him. He was more famous than anyone our generation has ever seen. I just wonder what that’s like. Mentally, it had to kinda mess with him some. [“Superstition” comes on the jukebox] “Superstition.” I’m startin’ to like this bar. Damn.
The piece of pop culture memorabilia from your childhood you wish you still had?
When I was a kid, I had the whole Atlanta Braves outfit. Like, I ordered the home and away uniforms, the ones from the mid-80s that were hideous that all the teams had, the powder blue ones. I have a game room now in my house, so it’d be cool to have that framed and hanging in there. I’m a little bit of a pack rat, too, so I do have a lot of stuff. I was big into Star Wars, so I have a little case that has all the original Star Wars figures in it.
What is your geekiest possession? And no, I didn’t go there because you mentioned Star Wars. Standard test question.
I have a Donkey Kong machine, the arcade version, so it looks like a roller rink in my house. [Pause as EW tells him that he needs to see the 2007 documentary The King of Kong.] Cool. I’ll have to check it out. That may be my geekiest possession after this, if I go buy that movie. [Laughs] I have another game, an arcade version of Bags. Down in the South, we call it Cornhole. It’s kinda like horseshoes. It’s a tailgating game. It’s a box, with a hole in it, and you throw beanbags trying to get them into the hole. If I’m watching college football in my house, I can tailgate right in my game room. I’ve got the ballgame. I’ve got my Bags. I’ve got my beer. It’s a good little system.
You have a 6-year-old and a 1-year-old. Is there any children’s entertainment that you’re surprised you actually like?
My 6-year-old is a big Hannah Montana fan. I’ll tell ya, when she was little, I watched cartoons with her all the time — which sucked. When she got into watching Hannah Montana, I was thrilled. I was like, “Okay, there’s some real people you’re watchin’ now. That’s awesome.” I actually went to a show in Nashville a year or two ago with my daughter. I’d never gone to a teen show like that. Those people were a lot different than my show. Whatever that pitch is that those teenage girls hit, Jesus Christ. The Jonas Brothers were there, too, so it was like insane. But we went backstage after the show, and Miley was really cool to my daughter, so I appreciated that. It kinda gave me a whole new respect for her. And her dad was great. I have to say, I enjoyed it. [Laughs] Next question.
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