To country singer Jason Aldean, there isn’t any country better than America, even with its faults.

“I think being American to me just means freedom,” Aldean told Fox News. “We live in the best country in the world.”

“I mean, there’s a reason that everybody else wants to be here and wants to come here,” he said. “It’s because they don’t have what we have. And so, I’m still very proud of that and proud of our country, even though sometimes it gets a little sideways and a little hard to recognize sometimes.”

To Aldean, America is still the America of many years ago, where anyone can be anything they want to be if they work hard.

“But I think we live in the best country in the world,” he added. “I mean, we get the chance to go and still have the American dream. You can come from nothing and build something and make something out of your life, out of yourself and change your life, your family’s life.”

“And I think we still have the ability to do that in this country, which is pretty cool,” he said.

At the Academy of Country Music Awards, Aldean gave a tribute to his friend, the late Toby Keith, and sang Keith’s song “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.”

The best advice Keith ever gave Aldean was to “never apologize for being patriotic.”

“Just being not afraid to speak your mind, stand up for what you believe in,” Aldean said. “Whether other people agree with it or not, be who you are and be unapologetic about it. And I think that’s pretty good advice.”