Kenny Chesney
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (October 2007) |
| Kenny Chesney | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kenneth Arnold Chesney |
| Born | March 26, 1968 |
| Origin | Knoxville, Tennessee, USA |
| Genre(s) | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals Rhythm guitar |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Label(s) | Capricorn BNA |
| Associated acts | Uncle Kracker Rascal Flatts George Strait |
| Website | www.kennychesney.com |
Kenny Chesney (born Kenneth Arnold Chesney, March 26, 1968 in Knoxville, Tennessee[1] ) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Having made his debut on Capricorn Records in 1993, Chesney has recorded thirteen albums, eleven of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA.
To date, he has also produced more than thirty Top Ten singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, thirteen of which reached Number One. In addition, Chesney has received six ACM (including four consecutive Entertainer of the Year Awards),[2] as well as three CMA awards. Chesney is also one of the most popular touring acts in country music, regularly selling out the venues at which he performs;[3][4] his 2007 Flip-Flop Summer Tour was the highest-grossing country road trip of 2007.[5] He was awarded his 4th consecutive ACM Entertainer of the Year award on May 18, 2008.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Kenneth Arnold Chesney was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, his mother Karen was, and still is, a hair stylist in the Knoxville area. He was raised in Luttrell, Tennessee, and attended Gibbs High School, where he was a receiver on the football team.[6]
Chesney studied at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee, joining Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity and he was a 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 made and Chesney sold them at his busking gigs, using the money from album sales to help buy a new guitar.[7]
In 1990, Chesney graduated from East Tennessee State University with a degree in advertising.[7] 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.
[edit] Career
[edit] Early years
Kenny's first album, "In My Wildest Dreams" [1], 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.[1] Shortly afterward, 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.[1] "The Tin Man" was also included on this album, although it was not re-released as a single at the time.
1996 saw the release of Me and You, Chesney's second major-label album.[1] Although its lead-off single peaked just outside the Top 40 on the country charts, the album's title track (reprised from All I Need to Know) and the single "When I Close My Eyes" both peaked at #2 on the Billboard country charts, the latter also reaching Number One on the country charts of Radio & Records. Me And You was also Chesney's first gold-certified album.[1] A cover of singer-songwriter 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.
[edit] Late 1990s breakthrough
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.[1] 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 to the John Ward Scholarship Fund received a portion of the single's sales.
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).[1] The album also produced two more hits: "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" and "What I Need to Do",[1] which peaked at #11 and #8 on the country charts, respectively. Everywhere We Go was also Chesney's first platinum-selling album.[1]
[edit] Early to Mid 2000s
By 2000, Chesney released his Greatest Hits compilation.[1] 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.[1]
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.
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.
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. The album was a lower key affair sonically than most of Chesney's recent albums.[citation needed] 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 Cheseny was named the CMA Entertainer of the Year for the third time in four years.
[edit] Late 2000s to Present-day
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 of 2006, but did not reach the Top 40 on the country charts until January of 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.
On September 11, 2007, Kenny released the album Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates. The album's lead-off single, "Never Wanted Nothing More", became Chesney's twelfth Number One on the Billboard country charts.[9]
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.[10] 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.
Chesney also co-wrote Rascal Flatts' 2007 single, "Take Me There", which served as the lead-off single to their album Still Feels Good.[11]
Chesney's most recent[when?] charity work includes working with the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
Chesney embarked on his 2008 tour titled "The Poets and Pirates Tour" sponsored by Corona on April 26. The tour will focus 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. Chesney stated that the injury will 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."[12]
On May 19th, 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." Many fans/media felt betrayed, the majority gave Chesney a 'pat on the back' for expressing his opinion on national television.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Awards
 |
This list may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this list. It may be poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. (January 2008) |
- 1997 ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year
- 2002 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"
- 2005 ACM Entertainer of the Year
- 2005 ACM Triple Crown Winner
- 2005 CMT Male Video of the Year
- 2006 CMA Entertainer of the Year
- 2006 ACM Entertainer of the Year
- 2006 CMT Male Video of the Year
- 2007 CMT Male Video of the Year
- 2007 33rd People's Choice Awards Favorite Male Singer
- 2007 ACM Entertainer of the Year
- 2007 CMA Entertainer of the Year
- 2008 CMA Entertainer of the Year
- 2008 ACM Entertainer of the Year
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Huey, Steve. allmusic ((( Kenny Chesney > Biography ))). All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Three ACM Wins in a Row for Chesney. CBS News (2007-05-15). Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
- ^ CMT.com : Kenny Chesney : Biography. CMT.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Cooper, Peter (2007-09-18). Kenny Chesney climbs the chart. The Shreveport Times. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
- ^ Chesney, Kenny (2007-09-24). "From Good Times to Demons: Who I Really Am". Country Weekly 14 (20): 36-43. ISSN 1074-3235.
- ^ Kenny Chesney Biography, retrieved 2007-08-14
- ^ a b Kenny Chesney: 1998 Distinguished Alumnus in the Arts. ETSU Alumni Association. Retrieved on 2007-02-16.
- ^ Associated Press (2006-05-24). Kenny Chesney wins entertainer of the year. MSNBC. Retrieved on 2007-02-16.
- ^ Kenny Chesney sets record with "Never Wanted Nothing More" (html). CountryStandardTime.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
- ^ "Don't Blink" Is Billboard's Highest Chart Debut Ever! (html). Kenny Chesney.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
- ^ Rascal Flatts' New Single Co-Written by Kenny Chesney (html). cmt.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- ^ http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1586431/despite-injury-kenny-chesneys-tour-continues-as-planned.jhtml
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
