Jason Aldean on marriage: "We're fine"

(CBS News) Country music's Jason Aldean had a long ride to the top, and he's planning to stay awhile. His new CD debuted at No. 1, just as scandal threatened to shake up his career and his family.

CBS News spoke with Aldean about the privileges and pitfalls of being famous.

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By any measure, Aldean has made it. He's a country music superstar, complete with crowded venues and devoted fans who know all of his songs by heart.

Aldean said packing huge venues is "really crazy." He said, "I remember standing on the stage and looking out there and there being, you know, 100 people watching."

Fourteen years ago, the Georgia native moved to Nashville with a guitar and a dream. It's a familiar story that ends most often with disappointment.

"It's a one-in-a-million shot." Aldean said. "Not everybody -- it doesn't matter how good you are. Sometimes the best singers don't ever do anything."

After four albums, and several country hits, Aldean has a first: His album "Night Train" debuted at No. 1 last month.

"People like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber and, you know, all these - all these people that are - you know - mainstream artists that are so big and then here we are, you know, sitting above all of them right there in number one," Aldean said. "It's pretty incredible."

On a night recently in Dallas, Aldean used that success to promote a cause that is deeply personal for him and his wife Jessica.

Family friend, Melissa Morstad, died from breast cancer eight years ago.

Jessica Aldean said, "She was 28 and three kids. Three girls. She was actually married to my cousin, which is how Jason and I met. And here she is leaving, you know three little girls and so young, 29 years old when she died. "

For the last seven years, Aldean has held a Concert for the Cure. The annual event, orchestrated by Jessica, relies on ticket sales and merchandise to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Keeping pace with Aldean's career, donations are growing steadily and significantly.

This year's check for $500,000 was Aldean's biggest contribution yet.

It's this kind of moment that provides a glimpse of Aldean, the man -- devoted to family, and protective -- which is why fame is sometimes an unwelcome spotlight.

In September, photographs surfaced showing Aldean embracing and apparently kissing another woman in Los Angeles. He apologized, saying he had too much to drink, but left the bar alone that night.

The CBS News interview is the first time the couple has addressed the issue publicly.

Asked how the couple is doing, Jason Aldean said, "I mean, I think we're fine, you know? I think, you know, anytime you go through something like that, I mean -- it's tough. We've been together for a long time. And been through a lot of things together. And - you know - those are things that most people get to deal with in private. But we didn't have the luxury of doing that."

High school sweethearts, Jason and Jessica have been married 11 years. Aldean said, "I would say you go ask -- ask any couple that's been married for 30, 40, 50 years. I guarantee you it hadn't -- "

Jessica Aldean said, "I would love to hear their story."

"It hasn't always been roses," Jason Aldean said.

Whether it's the sincerity you'd expect from one of his songs or just plain talent, Aldean's audience remains loyal and his upcoming tour dates are selling out faster than fans can swipe a credit card. It took just seven minutes to fill Boston's Fenway Park.

"I don't do it for the business side of everything," Aldean said. "And no offense, but to do interviews, and you know, that's not what I signed up for this for. I love playing music. And that's what it's all about."