Despite Success, Jason Aldean Still Frugal

Country superstar Jason Aldean had modest goals when he began a recording career in 2005. The singer says he just wanted to pay the bills. Everything else has been gravy. With four albums and nine Top Five hits there's plenty of gravy.

"We're both pretty frugal," Aldean tells the Charlotte Observer, describing he and his wife. "We were so broke at the time that all this started happening, we said, 'If we ever start making money, we just want to pay off our bills. I think the biggest thing was a house. Knowing we had a house that was paid for. Something as simple as that was a huge deal for us. We wanted to be smart."

Aldean nearly gave up on his dream and returned home to Macon, Ga. before Broken Bow Records offered him a deal. At the time the label was also just getting started, but they'd had success with Craig Morgan. "I had a lot of people helping me out," Aldean says. "People like Rascal Flatts and (Tim) McGraw that gave me a chance to play in front of their fans to help me establish myself. It's cool to be in a situation where you can do that for another artist."

Aldean recently celebrated his sixth No. 1 hit. 'Dirt Road Anthem was written by Colt Ford and Brantley Gilbert. In fact none of Aldean's chart-toppers have been written by the 'Big Green Tractor' singer. He tells the Charlotte Observer that he's fine with that. "I've always felt like I'd have a longer career by recording the best songs I could find instead of forcing my own songs down people's throats," he says.