Jason Aldean performs Tom Petty song 'I Won’t Back Down' on SNL after his show was targeted in Las Vegas shooting

The country star was the one performing during the massacre that killed 58

Jason Aldean, the country singer who was performing on stage when the Las Vegas shooting spree began, paid tribute to both the victims of the mass shooting and the late musician Tom Petty on Saturday Night Live.

The star opened the comedy sketch show with a moving rendition of Petty's track “I Won't Back Down,” a song known to provide hope in tough times.

Ahead of his performance, he addressed the deadly massacre which occurred in Las Vegas on Monday (2 October): “This week we witnessed one of the worst tragedies in American history. 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 that we are 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 in unbreakable.”

The mass shooting - the deadliest in modern US history - was carried out by gunman Stephen Paddock who fired on revellers at a country concert Aldean was performing at from his room at the Mandalay Bay hotel. A motive for his actions has not yet been established.

Petty died after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu at the age of 66. The track, taken from the rocker's first solo record Full Moon Fever, was given increased radio airplay in the weeks following 9/11 as a message of defiance against oppressive forces.

Aldean was a surprise addition to the SNL bill alongside Sam Smith.