Kenneth Arnold (Kenny) Chesney
(born March 26, 1968) is an American country music artist. Since 1993, Chesney has recorded thirteen albums, eleven of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA. He has also produced more than thirty Top Ten singles on the U.S. Billboard
Hot Country Songs charts, seventeen of which reached Number One. In addition, Chesney has received six ACM (including four consecutive Entertainer of the Year Awards), [1] as well as six CMA awards. Chesney is also one of the most popular touring acts in country music, regularly selling out the venues at which he performs; [2] [3] his 2007 Flip-Flop Summer Tour was the highest-grossing country road trip of 2007. [4] He was awarded his 4th consecutive ACM Entertainer of the Year award on May 18, 2008.
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KENNY CHESNEY TICKETS
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Early life
Chesney was born in
Knoxville, Tennessee at
St. Mary's Hospital on March 26, 1968. His mother Karen, was, and still is, a hair stylist in the Knoxville area. His father, David Chesney, is a former Elementary school teacher. Chesney has one sibling, a younger sister named Jennifer Chandler. He was raised in
Luttrell, Tennessee and attended Gibbs High School, where he was a receiver on the football team, and graduated in 1986. The following year, Kenny received his first guitar for Christmas, where he began teaching himself to play. He had previously attempted guitar playing at age 5, but quit because "it hurt his fingers".
[5]
Chesney studied in
East Tennessee State University in
Johnson City, Tennessee, where he joined
Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity and was member of the ETSU Bluegrass Program. Chesney played tunes at local places around Johnson City like Chucky's Trading Post (a small
Mexican restaurant), Quarterbacks BBQ, and Rafters. He recorded his first album in 1989 at Classic Recording Studio in
Bristol, Virginia. A thousand copies were produced and Chesney sold them at his
busking gigs, using the money from album sales to help buy a new guitar.
In 1990, Chesney graduated from
East Tennessee State University with a degree in advertising.
[6] After graduation, he headed to
Nashville, where he performed at several local clubs. After making the rounds of the music publishers in Nashville, Chesney signed to contract in 1992 with BMI and Opryland Music Group.
Career
In My Wildest Dreams
Chesney's first album,
In My Wildest Dreams
, was released on the independent
Capricorn Records label in 1994. The album's lead-off singles, "The Tin Man" and "Whatever It Takes", both reached the lower regions of the
Billboard
Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. The album sold approximately 10,000 copies before Capricorn Records closed its country music division that year.
[7]
All I Need to Know
After Capricorn's closure, Chesney signed to
BNA Records, which released his album
All I Need to Know
in 1995. The album produced three hit singles: "Fall in Love" and the title track (both of which reached Top Ten), and "Grandpa Told Me So", which peaked at #23.
"The Tin Man" was also included on this album, although it was not re-released as a single at the time.
Me and You
Released in 1996, Chesney's second major-label album was
Me and You
.
Although its lead-off single peaked just outside the Top 40 on the country charts, the album's
title track (which was reprised from
All I Need to Know
) and the single "
When I Close My Eyes" (which was previously recorded by
Larry Stewart on his 1993 debut album
Down the Road
) both peaked at #2 on the
Billboard
country charts.
Me and You
was also Chesney's first gold-certified album.
A cover of
Mac McAnally's 1990 single "Back Where I Come From" was also included on this album; although Chesney's version was never released as a single, it has become a staple of his concerts.
I Will Stand
I Will Stand
, Chesney's third album for BNA, was released in 1997. "
She's Got It All", which served as the album's lead-off single, became Chesney's first
Billboard
Number One single, spending three weeks at the top of the country charts.
The album's second single, "A Chance", peaked just shy of Top Ten, while its follow-up, "That's Why I'm Here", went to #2 on
Billboard
in 1998. ("That's Why I'm Here" reached Number One on
Radio & Records
, giving Chesney his third Number One overall.) Also in 1998, Chesney recorded a limited-edition single titled "Touchdown Tennessee". The single was a tribute to John Ward, a former broadcaster for the
University of Tennessee Volunteers'
football team;
St. Jude's Children's Hospital and the John Ward Scholarship Fund received a portion of the single's sales.
Everywhere We Go
1999's
Everywhere We Go
, Chesney's fourth album for BNA, produced two consecutive Number One singles in "
How Forever Feels" and "
You Had Me from Hello" (the latter inspired by a line in the movie
Jerry Maguire
).
The album also produced two more hits: "
She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" and "
What I Need to Do",
which peaked at #11 and #8 on the country charts, respectively.
Everywhere We Go
was also Chesney's first platinum-selling album.
Greatest Hits
By 2000, Chesney released his
Greatest Hits
compilation.
It included four new tracks, as well as re-recordings of "Fall in Love", "The Tin Man" and "Back Where I Come From". The new version of "The Tin Man" was one of the disc's three singles, with two of the new tracks, "
I Lost It" and "
Don't Happen Twice", also serving as singles.
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
thumb of the
White House on
May 16,
2006, at the official dinner for Australian Prime Minister
John Howard and Mrs.
Janette Howard
The album
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
was released in 2002. Its lead-off single, "
Young", peaked at #2, while the follow-up "
The Good Stuff" spent seven weeks at Number One, becoming ''Billboard
s Number One country song of the year for 2002. A year later, Chesney recorded an album of Christmas music, titled
All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan''; the album's title track peaked at #30 on the country charts from holiday airplay.
When the Sun Goes Down
2004 saw the release of Chesney's album
When the Sun Goes Down
. Its lead-off single, "
There Goes My Life", spent seven weeks at the top of the
Billboard
country charts; the album's title track, a duet with
Uncle Kracker, was also a Number One. At the Country Music Association awards that year,
When the Sun Goes Down
won an award for Album of the Year.
Be as You Are
and The Road and the Radio
In January 2005, Chesney released the album
Be as You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair)
, supporting the album with his Somewhere in the Sun Tour and in November 2005. Chesney released his second album of that year,
The Road and the Radio
, which produced three Number One singles: "
Living in Fast Forward", "
Summertime", and "
Beer in Mexico", as well as Top Five hits in "
Who You'd Be Today" and "
You Save Me".
In February 2006, Chesney was presented with a plaque commemorating his sales of 25 million albums. On May 23 of the same year, Chesney was honored at the
Academy of Country Music Awards as Entertainer of the Year. In 2007 he was once again named Entertainer of the Year.
[8] On November 7, 2007 Chesney was named the CMA Entertainer of the Year for the third time in four years.
Late 2000s to present
Chesney, along with
Tim McGraw, contributed to a version of
Tracy Lawrence's single "
Find Out Who Your Friends Are", which can be found on Lawrence's album
For the Love
. The official single version, featuring only Lawrence's vocals, was released in August 2006, but did not reach the Top 40 on the country charts until January 2007, when
For the Love
was released. After the album's release, the version with McGraw and Chesney began receiving significant airplay, helping to boost the single to Number One on the country charts. The song became Lawrence's first Number One single in eleven years, as well as the second-slowest climbing Number One single in the history of the
Billboard
music charts.
Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates
On September 11, 2007, Kenny released the album
Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates
. The album represented a move by Chesney to a more
gulf and western sound with a number of "breezy, steel-drum island songs."
[9] However, there was some controversy surrounding the release of this album, as
Kanye West's album
Graduation
, as well as
50 Cent's album
Curtis
, were released on the same day. Kanye West and 50 Cent were in the midst of a competitive sales war, with 50 Cent claiming he'd end his solo rap career if West sold more albums than he did (remarks he later retracted as terms with his contract conflicted with the promise). Kenny Chesney, however, decided he'd give
country music a place in the competition, claiming country artists were just as popular as
rap artists. Chesney came in third place in number of record sales.
The album's lead-off single, "
Never Wanted Nothing More", became Chesney's 12th Number One on the
Billboard
country charts.
[10] On the U.S.
Billboard
Hot Country Songs chart dated for the week ending September 15, 2007, Chesney's single "
Don't Blink" debuted at #16, setting a new record for the highest debut on that chart since the inception of
SoundScan electronic tabulation in 1990.
[11] This record was broken one week later by
Garth Brooks' song "
More Than a Memory", which debuted at Number One on the same chart, making it the first song ever to do so. The third single off the
Just Who I Am
album, "
Shiftwork", a duet with George Strait peaked at #2 on the
Billboard
country chart. The 4th single, "
Better as a Memory", became his 14th number-one single on the
Billboard
Hot Country Songs chart for the chart week of
June 28,
2008.
Chesney also co-wrote
Rascal Flatts' 2007 single along with Djuan Edgerton, "
Take Me There", which served as the lead-off single to their album
Still Feels Good
.
[12]
Chesney's most recent charity work includes working with the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
Chesney embarked on his 2008 tour titled "The Poets and Pirates Tour" on April 26. The tour focused on stadium venues and started at
Williams-Brice Stadium in
Columbia, South Carolina. During the introduction for his set, Kenny's boot was caught between a hydraulic lift and the stage surface for over 30 seconds, causing a severe
hematoma from the ankle down, with most of the damage centering in his toes. The injury did not cause him to postpone any shows, saying "He (the doctor) told me it's going to hurt -- though nothing could hurt worse than Saturday, I don't think -- and they can give me something to deaden the pain when I get out there. I also have to have a doctor standing by should something give, but I'm going to tape it up, and I'm going to get out there."
[13]
On May 19, 2008, just a day after the 43rd Annual ACM Awards and winning ACM Entertainer of the Year, Chesney criticized the lack of choice in the producers' making the award fan-voted. "The entertainer of the year trophy is supposed to represent heart and passion and an amazing amount of sacrifice, commitment and focus," he said. "That's the way Garth won it four times, that's the way I won it, that's the way (George) Strait won it, Reba (McEntire), Alabama all those years. That's what it's supposed to represent."
Lucky Old Sun
On July 24, 2008 Kenny Chesney announced that he will be releasing a new single off an upcoming album entitled
Lucky Old Sun
. The song is titled "
Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" and for the chart week of August 16, 2008, it has debuted at #22 on the
Billboard
Hot Country Songs chart. The album was released on October 14, 2008. "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" became a Number One hit. It was followed by a cover of
Mac McAnally's 1990 single "
Down the Road".
It was announced on December 2, 2008 that Chesney would perform at
Gillette Stadium again in 2009, marking the fifth year in a row that Chesney will have played at the Foxboro, Massachusetts football field.
[14] Chesney's tour this year will be entitled the Sun City Carnival Tour and will feature various venues both small and large to continue to keep his ticket prices down.
[15]
Greatest Hits II
Kenny Chesney's new single, "
Out Last Night" is the lead single from his
Greatest Hits II
album, released May 19 via BNA Records. It is his first greatest hits album in nine years (not counting his
Super Hits
album).
Personal life
On May 9, 2005 Kenny Chesney married actress
Renee Zellweger in a ceremony at the island of
St. John. They had met in January at a tsunami relief benefit concert. On September 15, 2005, after only four months of marriage, they announced their plans for an annulment. Zellweger cited fraud as the reason in the related papers. After media scrutiny of her use of the word "fraud", she qualified the use of the term, stating it was "simply legal language and not a reflection of Kenny's character". The annulment was finalized in late December 2005.
Chesney was dating
Amy Colley, a 24 year old former
Miss Tennessee USA. The two were introduced by a mutual friend, but they broke up on April 21, 2009.
Tours
- Greatest Hits Tour 2001
- No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems Tour 2002
- Margaritas N' Senorita's Tour 2003
- Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lotta Love Tour 2004
- Somewhere In The Sun Tour 2005
- The Road & The Radio Tour 2006
- Flip-Flop Summer Tour 2007
- The Poets & Pirates Tour 2008
- Sun City Carnival Tour 2009
Discography
Studio albums
- In My Wildest Dreams
(1994)
- All I Need to Know
(1995)
- Me and You
(1996)
- I Will Stand
(1997)
- Everywhere We Go
(1999)
- No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
(2002)
- When the Sun Goes Down
(2004)
- Be as You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair)
(2005)
- The Road and the Radio
(2005)
- Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates
(2007)
- Lucky Old Sun
(2008)
Compilation albums
- Greatest Hits
(2000)
- All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan
(2003)
- Live: Live Those Songs Again
(2006)
- Super Hits
(2008)
- Greatest Hits II
(2009)
Awards and nominations
- Wins
- 1997 ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year
- 2002 CMT Male Video of the Year: Young
- 2002 CMT Video of the Year: Young
- 2003 ACM Single Record of the Year: The Good Stuff
- 2003 ACM Top Male Vocalist of the Year
- 2004 AMA Artist of the Year
- 2004 CMA Entertainer of the Year
- 2004 CMA Album of the Year: When The Sun Goes Down
- 2004 CMT Hottest Video of the Year: No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
- 2004 CMT Male Video of the Year: There Goes My Life
- 2005 ACM Entertainer of the Year
- 2005 ACM Triple Crown Winner
- 2005 CMT Male Video of the Year: I Go Back
- 2006 CMA Entertainer of the Year
- 2006 ACM Entertainer of the Year
- 2006 CMT Male Video of the Year: Who You Be Today
- 2006 BMA Best Male Country Artist
- 2006 BMA Best Country Artist
- 2007 CMT Male Video of the Year: You Save Me
- 2007 PCA Favorite Male Singer
- 2007 ACM Entertainer of the Year
- 2007 CMA Musical Event of the Year: Find Out Who Your Friends Are
- 2007 CMA Entertainer of the Year
- 2008 ACM Entertainer of the Year
- 2008 ACM Vocal Event of the Year: Find Out Who Your Friends Are
- 2008 FACM Best Duo of the Year: Every Other Weekend
- 2008 CMA Entertainer of the Year
- Nominations
- 1999 CMA Music Video of the Year: How Forever Feels
- 1999 CMA Horizon Award
- 2000 ACM Top Male Vocalist
- 2001 ACM Top Male Vocalist
- 2002 ACM Top Male Vocalist
- 2002 CMA Album of the Year: No Shows, No Shirt, No Problems
- 2002 CMA Male Vocalist of the Year
- 2003 CMT Hottest Video of the Year: The Good Stuff
- 2003 CMT Male Video of the Year: The Good Stuff
- 2003 CMT Video of the Year: The Good Stuff
- 2003 ACM Song of the Year: A lot of Things Different
- 2003 ACM Album of the Year: No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
- 2003 ACM Entertainer of the Year
- 2003 CMA Male Vocalist of the Year
- 2003 CMA Entertainer of the Year
- 2004 CMT Video of the Year: There Goes My Life
- 2004 ACM Song of the Year: There Goes My Life
- 2004 ACM Top Male Vocalist
- 2004 ACM Entertainer of the Year
- 2004 CMA Musical Event of the Year: Hey Good Lookin
- 2004 CMA Musical Event of the Year: When the Sun Goes Down
- 2004 CMA Male Vocalist of the Year
- 2004 AMA Best Male Country Artist
- 2005 CMT Video of the Year: I Go Back
- 2005 CMT Hottest Video of the Year: Old Blue Chair
- 2005 CMT Collabortive Video of the Year: Hey Good Lookin
- 2005 ACM Vocal Event of the Year: When the Sun Goes Down
- 2005 ACM Album of the Year: When the Sun Goes Down
- 2005 ACM Top Male Vocalist
- 2005 CMA Male Vocalist of the Year
- 2005 CMA Entertainer of the Year
- 2005 AMA Best Male Country Artist
- 2006 CMT Video of the Year: Who You Be Today
- 2006 ACM Top Male Vocalist
- 2006 CMA Single of the Year: Summertime
- 2006 CMA Album of the Year: The Road and the Radio
- 2006 CMA Male Vocalist of the Year
- 2006 AMA Best Male Country Artist
- 2006 BMA Best Country Album: The Road and the Radio
- 2006 BMA Best Country Song: Summertime
- 2007 CMT Video of the Year: You Save Me
- 2007 ACM Top Male Vocalist
- 2007 CMA Music Video of the Year: You Save Me
- 2007 CMA Male Vocalist of the Year
- 2008 PCA Favorite Country Song: Never Wanted Nothing More
- 2008 CMT Tearjerker Video of the Year: Don't Blink
- 2008 CMT Male Video of the Year: Don't Blink
- 2008 CMT Video of the Year: Don't Blink
- 2008 ACM Video of the Year: Don't Blink
- 2008 ACM Vocal Event of the Year: Shiftwork
- 2008 ACM Single Record of the Year: Don't Blink
- 2008 ACM Song of the Year: Don't Blink
- 2008 ACM Album of the Year: Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates
- 2008 ACM Top Male Vocalist
- 2008 CMA Music Video of the Year "Don't Blink"
- 2008 CMA Musical Event of the Year "Every Other Weekend"
- 2008 CMA Musical Event of the Year "Shiftwork"
- 2008 CMA Single of the Year "Don't Blink"
- 2008 CMA Album of the Year "Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates"
- 2008 CMA Male Vocalist of the Year
- 2008 AMA Favorite Male Country Singer
- 2009 PCA Favorite Male Singer
- 2009 Grammy Best Collabarations w/ Vocals: Shiftwork
- 2009 ACM Vocal Event of the Year: Down the Road
- 2009 ACM Top Male Vocalist
- 2009 ACM Entertainer of the Year
See also
- List of best-selling music artists
References
- Three ACM Wins in a Row for Chesney
- CMT.com : Kenny Chesney : Biography
- Kenny Chesney climbs the chart
- From Good Times to Demons: Who I Really Am
- Kenny Chesney Biography, retrieved 2007-08-14
- Kenny Chesney: 1998 Distinguished Alumnus in the Arts
- allmusic ((( Kenny Chesney > Biography )))
- Kenny Chesney wins entertainer of the year
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Review of ''Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates'' at Allmusic.com
- Kenny Chesney sets record with "Never Wanted Nothing More"
- "Don't Blink" Is Billboard's Highest Chart Debut Ever!
- Rascal Flatts' New Single Co-Written by Kenny Chesney
- CMT : News : Despite Injury, Kenny Chesney's Tour Continues As Planned
- Chesney Playing Gillette Stadium Again in 2009
- Kenny Chesney Playing a Dozen Stadium Shows in 2009