Kenny Chesney was born in Knoxville, Tennessee.  He began playing Bluegrass while in college at the East Tennessee State University, performing at small local establishments.  He recorded his first album in 1989 at Classic Recording Studio in Bristol, Virginia.  He made 1,000 copies and sold them at his busking events.

Kenny Chesney

Social topics may hit too close to home for people, but then again, if you pull a heartstring, then that's country music is. It's not just songs about getting drunk and leaving your girl.

Starting Out

Kenny Chesney was born in Knoxville, Tennessee.  He began playing Bluegrass while in college at the East Tennessee State University, performing at small local establishments.  He recorded his first album in 1989 at Classic Recording Studio in Bristol, Virginia.  He made 1,000 copies and sold them at his busking events.  He used the profits to buy a new guitar and begin recording his next album.

Upon graduation, Chesney moved to Nashville.  There, he continued to perform at small venues wherever he could get a gig.  He aggressively pursued recording companies, until he signed a contract in 1992 with BMI Records and Opryland Music Group.  The contract did not last long, and   by the time Chesney released his second album, he was recording with BNA Records.

Creating a Name

Kenny Chesney released an album each year from 1994 through 1997, with each album showing increased commercial success.  His 1997 release, I Will Stand, spawned his first #1 hit, She's Got It All.  Later that year, Chesney released the limted-edition single, Touchdown Tennessee, a tribute to John Ward, a former broadcaster for the University of Tennessee's football team.  St. Jude Children's Hospital and the John Ward Scholarship Fund received a portion of the sales from the single.

Chesney released Everywhere You Go in 1999, which would become his first platinum album.  Two consecutive #1 singles, How Forever Feels and You Had Me From Hello were included on the album.  His 2002 album, No Shoes,  No Shirt, No Problem, spawned the single, The Good Stuff, which spent seven weeks at #1 and was named Billboard's Number One Country Song for 2002.  The album certified 4x platinum.  

At the Top

From 2004 to 2008, Chesney released five more albums, two of which certified mult-platinum.  In 2005, Chesney received a plaque, commemorating his career sales of over 25 million albums.  In 2007, he was named Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Awards.  In 2008, Chesney launched a tour to promote his album, Just Who I am: Poets and Pirates, focusing on stadium venues.

Kenny Chesney won the Billboard Touring Award, which is based on gate receipts, every year from 2005 through 2008.  Greatest Hits II, released in 2009, will be re-released in May of 2010, with two new tracks, including Ain't Back Yet, which was released to the radio stations in February.  Over the course of his career, Chesney has released eleven studio albums and five compilations.

Did you know . . .

1. Of Kenny Chesney's forty-three singles, all but four charted on the Top 40 Country Music Charts.

2. Chesney's single You Had Me From Hello was the inspiration for the famous line used in the movie, Jerry Maguire.

3. Nielsen Soundscan reports that Kenny Chesney has sold 36,000 mp3 downloads since 2003.

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