More than a decade after turning CMT Crossroads down, Bob Seger will perform on the show with contemporary star Jason Aldean.
"When I told them I was ready to do the show, they sent me three names," Seger told Rolling Stone. "I won't tell you who those three people were, but they weren't Aldean, and that's who I wanted. I told [CMT] I wanted him, they called him. . .and everything just worked."
Why was Aldean the right fit?
"He was always my Number One choice," Seger said. "Jason and his band have a great edge. It really appeals to me as a rocker. They're country, but they're hard country. I love that. There's a lot of attitude. I hear them as a very brawny country band. I went and saw them in Detroit, and there was a sign someone had made that read, 'Badass band!' And I thought, 'Well, that's appropriate.'"
Apparently the performance went splendidly. From RS: Performing in front of a packed house in Franklin, Tennessee, Aldean and Seger essentially joined each other's bands for the evening, playing back-to-back sets of classic rock anthems - including "Hollywood Nights," "Against the Wind" and the ultimate tribute to the grit and grind of the road, "Turn the Page" - and modern-day country tunes like "She's Country" and "Just Gettin' Started."
Aldean has played "Turn the Page" since he was a teenager.
"I started playing clubs at 14 or 15 years old, and I'd sing that song without having a clue what it was really about," he said. "I just thought it was cool. Here I am, 20 years later, and I've kind of lived that song now. I can listen to it and have a completely different appreciation for what it's talking about: being on a bus for 16 hours, going to bed with your ears ringing, just coming down off the high of being onstage. You'll pull into some truck stop somewhere, and you've got 10 guys filing off the bus in some little town, and everyone's looking at you like you've got three heads."
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