NEW YORK >> Country star Jason Aldean took the stage on “Saturday Night Live,” paying tribute to the victims of the Las Vegas massacre and the late rock superstar Tom Petty.

Aldean performed Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” during the live opening tonight and then introduced the show.

“This week we witnessed one of the worst tragedies in American history,” he said. “So many people are hurting. You can be sure that we are going to walk through these tough times together every step of the way.”

Aldean was performing at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas last Sunday night when a gunman sprayed bullets into the crowd from a high-rise hotel, killing 58 people and injuring nearly 500.

Petty died Monday in Los Angeles at age 66 after suffering cardiac arrest.