Jason Aldean still cares about career recognition, but he’s shifted his daily focus from collecting accolades to his wife Brittany and his four children

At his current age, country music star Jason Aldean spends his days chasing his son Memphis and daughter Navy – a marked change from his 20s when he spent his time reaching the top. country music charts or featured placements at the biggest venues.

Aldean still cares about the awards, but age and success have allowed him to shift his daily focus from career to family.

“It’s a lot different,” Aldean told PEOPLE during a Zoom session from his tour bus. “In my 40s, I’m a lot more stable than I was in my 20s. I’m in a different place in life. I don’t feel like I’m trying to prove myself every day and trying to keep up. “This seems out of reach.”

Aldean is also the father of two grown daughters, Kendyl and Keeley. He was also as present as possible for them when they were children. But his touring schedule requires 250 days a year on the road and forces him to trade their milestones for attention. His sacrifice paid off. Since Aldean debuted in 2005, he has had 25 No. 1 country hits, 15 billion streams and sold more than 20 million albums. He’s the Academy of Country Music’s Artist of the Decade — and he received a Grammy nomination on Tuesday for Carrie Underwood’s new duet “If I Didn’t Love You” from “Macon.”

He wrote on social media that Grammy nominations are “hard to get” and said that winning one was “definitely on my bucket list.”

“It feels good to know that for the last 16 years, I’ve had a chance to wake up and go do a job that I truly love to do,” Aldean said. “If it all went away tomorrow, I’d be like, ‘My kids are good. It’s been great.’ I got no regrets at all.”

Kendyl and Keeley are Aldean’s children from his previous marriage to Jessica Ussery. The pair split after 12 years, and Aldean married his current wife Brittany, the mother of his youngest two children. While merging the families was complicated, Aldean said watching his four kids together is “really fun.”

“I feel really sorry for Memphis, though,” Aldean said, laughing. “It’s him and three sisters, so he doesn’t have a chance. I never thought I’d be having kids again at 40, but now I can’t imagine life without them. I was an only child … so having a big family was something I didn’t really have. I love having them all there and just seeing them interact.”

Aldean and Brittany married in 2015 and he says he can always count on her support. They share the same conservative values ​​and she keeps him healthy with a cleaner diet of fish and chicken. His steak days are less frequent, and if he wants to order a large pizza, he says he has to “mail it in.” But he doesn’t complain.

“It’s like what you do when you get married,” he said. “The most important thing for us is that we’re extremely supportive of each other. She’s been really good at trying to find her own path, starting her own small business and doing her own thing. ” I try to support her as much as possible. “is happening. And she does it with me. It’s a good little team.”

The combination of maturity and success fits Aldean to a tee.

“I don’t wanna say I’ve accomplished everything that I set out to do because I haven’t, but I’ve accomplished a lot more than what I thought I would,” Aldean said. “I got four beautiful kids. I got a beautiful wife and had a great career. I’m a lot more settled now than I was by far in my 20s. I’m just a lot more at peace.”