Country music star Jason Aldean took the stage on Saturday Night Live, paying tribute to the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting. Aldean was performing last week at the Route 91 Harvest festival when a gunman fired on the crowd from a high-rise hotel in an attack that killed at least 58 people and left more than 500 injured. In a monologue to open Saturday Night Live, Aldean said: “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. 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. But 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.” The singer then performed a rendition of the Tom Petty song “I Won’t Back Down,” which also paid homage to Petty, who died last Monday at 66. After the shooting, Aldean posted a message on social media calling for Americans to “come together and stop the hate.” He canceled several performances but this week plans to resume his touring schedule, which includes a stop Friday at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.
Police in a Seattle suburb arrested the rapper Nelly on Saturday after a woman said he raped her in his tour bus. Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., was arrested at 4:37 a.m. Saturday in his tour bus at a Wal-Mart store, said spokesman Steve Stocker of the Auburn, Wash., police. The woman called 911 to report being assaulted by Nelly, police said in a statement. Nelly’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, said Saturday afternoon that the singer was released from jail pending the investigation and had not been charged. Rosenblum called the rape claim a “completely fabricated allegation.” The rapper later took to Twitter to comment on the arrest, denying the accusations and thanking fans for their support. “I am completely innocent,” he said. “I am confident that once the facts are looked at, it will be very clear that I am the victim of a false allegation.” Nelly, who is touring with the country pop duo Florida Georgia Line, canceled his Saturday night performance in Ridgefield, Wash.