Country star Jason Aldean has publicly thanked fans and radio Djs who have spoken out about his CMA Awards snub, insisting the outrage has validated his upset.

Aldean was expected to be among the stars dominating the nominations when they were announced last week (ends05Sep14), but, despite his four country chart number ones, he was omitted from the list and won't be among those competing for Entertainer of the Year or Male Vocalist.

Promoting his new record on Tuesday (09Sep14), Aldean told Rolling Stone magazine, "Obviously it's disappointing. We're still out there selling out shows... I don't think there is anybody else out there that is doing the kind of touring numbers that we're doing. It's frustrating, man.

"What do you do? Things like that are out of your hands... It does suck a little bit when awards season comes around and you feel like you're, as far as artists go, you're up there at the cream of the crop, and to get overlooked like that is upsetting."

But he's grateful for the fans and country music radio hosts who are standing up for him, adding, "Everything stirred up a hornet's nest with everybody. All the Djs on the radio were talking about it and everything else. Which is cool. I do appreciate the fact that there are people out there who do realise what we're doing. It sort of validates my reasoning for being upset."