2002

(2/1/02, 6 p.m. ET) -- Kenny Chesney showed fans a side-splitting--rather, pants-splitting--good time when he kicked off the No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems arena tour on Thursday (January 31) in West Palm Beach, Florida. The singer was in the midst of his encore when his pants suddenly split at the crotch. "It's a good thing I remembered to wear underwear," joked Chesney.

Chesney entertained the 11,000-plus crowd with his biggest hits, feeding off the energy of opening night of his first headlining arena tour. Chesney admits he was a bit nervous to embark on this particular tour, as he explains to LAUNCH. "This is not my first headlining tour, but in a sense it is to this magnitude. I mean, we're not headlining theaters," he says. "We're headlining arenas, and so in that sense it is our first headlining tour. People ask me all the time if I'm scared, but I wouldn't say that I'm scared. It's more of anxious. I'm very anxious. I'm very excited about seeing what we can do out there."

The first leg of the No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems tour features opening acts Sara Evans, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, and Phil Vassar, who Chesney feels is a real asset to the shows. "You know, he brings more to the show than just his hit records. He brings a great show, and he brings a lot of energy and he brings a lot of talent. I think there's a lot of people out there that relate to Phil and that's why I have him out there on the road with us. Sara's as hot as any female out there right now, and to be honest with you, I've never really worked with Carolyn Dawn Johnson but I'm excited to have her out there. She's gonna add a lot."

Chesney's current single, "Young," sits at Number 18 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

Kenny Chesney Goes Barefoot and Topless
April 2002

Despite its title, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems reveals a hidden maturity in Kenny Chesney's music.

By Brian Mansfield
CDNOW Senior Editor, Country

Few of country music's younger singers have the kind of audience rapport that Kenny Chesney has. With
such hits as "How Forever Feels," "You Had Me from Hello," and "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," he's
carved out a niche for himself in NASCAR-lovin', college-football-watchin' country fans.

"Young," the first single from No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, may sound like a John Mellencamp outtake
from the "Jack and Diane" era, but Chesney comes into his own with his new album. "The Good Stuff" and
the Bill Anderson-Dean Dillon song, "A Lot of Things Different," show a developing maturity that the East
Tennessee native hasn't always displayed, even while such songs as "Live Those Songs Again" and "On
the Coast of Somewhere Beautiful" conjure images of the warm, island breezes that have won Chesney the
loyalty of more than a few of Jimmy Buffett's Parrotheads.

CDNOW: What's important to you about the new record?

Kenny Chesney: First of all, it's the first real studio album I've had in almost three-and-a-half years. And I've
lived a lot in three-and-a-half years. I can honestly sit here and tell you that I've grown up a lot.

What was the key life event that happened during that time?

Well, I was engaged to be married. Totally in love. Completely in love. And it fell apart. When that happens,
you go through a lot as a person. You start to evaluate your life and own up to the fact that perfect can
come part no matter how perfect it is. It's a brutal feeling to know that.

I think she feels the same way. We totally loved each other, but that doesn't mean we were supposed to be
together.

How did you find "A Lot of Things Different"?

Acuff-Rose is my publishing, and Dean Dillon writes for them. Dean played it for me on his guitar one day.
Dean and I were writing another song, and he goes, "Man, I want to play you a song that me and Bill
Anderson just wrote." He almost couldn't listen to it for crying. And I almost couldn't listen to it for crying.

Everybody I play this song for, they sit there, and they listen to it, and they go, "I know what my line is."
I've got three or four lines in there. There's a line in the song that says, "I'd have gone and saw Elvis that
night when he came to town / But Mama said I couldn't." That's the truth. Elvis Presley came to Knoxville,
Tennessee, in 1976 -- or it might've been early 1977. I wanted to go see Elvis so bad. I used to sing in the
mirror with a hairbrush to his double live album. I knew every word of that double live album. I wanted to see
Elvis so bad, but mama said I couldn't.

Your accent seems to be more present on this record -- especially on that song.

"I've lived a lot in three-and-a-half years. I can honestly sit here and tell you that I've grown up a lot."

'Cause it's half-spoken. When I talk, you can definitely make out the accent. I can't help it. Who says I ain't
country?

Speaking of your mother, one of the songs you wrote on the album, "Dreams," is about her, isn't it?

My mama called me one night. Her and her boyfriend had just broken up. She called me. She was really
upset. She said, "Kenny, all men my age want younger women. I don't know what to do." And that's the first
line of the song.

I could tell that her self-esteem was rock bottom. I could tell that she was really trying hard to come to grips
with being in her '50s and not having a guy her age think she's sexy or think she's wonderful -- which she is,
still. She's a great-looking lady. But her self-esteem was telling her she wasn't what she wanted to be or what
she thought she was. Because this guy moved on, for something a little younger, maybe.

How intimidating is it to cover a Bruce Springsteen song?

How intimidating do you think it is? It was really intimidating. I hate remakes. Hate 'em. I've always had the
philosophy, "Why do 'em?"

I've always loved the melody of that song ["One Step Up"]. I've always loved what the song said. I've
wanted to cut it two or three times, but I never was courageous enough to do it. And thank God I didn't.
Because I really feel like now in my life, especially with what I went through, that I've learned a lot of the
lessons that are in that song. I finally feel grown up enough and mature enough to pull it off.

Talk about the song you sing with Tim McGraw, "I Can't Go There."

That's the most brutally honest song I've ever written in my whole life. It's a song about my breakup with my
fiancée. When you're in love with somebody, you go places -- whether it's your favorite restaurant, a spot in
the islands, or Wrigley Field. When that love don't go all the way, it's impossible for you -- literally, or in
your heart or mind -- to go back there.

If I've ever written a song that was 100 percent an open book about me and what I went through, "I Can't Go
There" is it. For that reason, it's probably one of my favorite songs on the record.

I thought that me and McGraw would be able to sing together one day, but I didn't know it was going to be
on this record.

How did it happen? Granted, you are next-door neighbors.

Well, yeah, Tim's a great friend of mine. But this song meant so much to me, and I felt like it was a great lyric,
and it was a very honest song. There's a ton of honesty and truthfulness in Tim's voice, especially on the
ballads.

There's a part in the song, where I'm singing the third verse, and he's singing on top of me. I just felt like he'd
be perfect for it.

To be honest, I was a little scared to ask him to sing on it. I didn't want it to infringe on our friendship. I
wanted him to do it because he thought it was a great song. I didn't want him to feel like he had to do it.

He didn't even ask to listen to the song. He said, "I'd love to do it. I'd love to sing with you." We're great
friends, and we've toured together before, but to have him be a part of my career on a record that lasts
forever, it's very special.

How did it feel to work out with the Florida State Seminoles football team this spring?

Me and some of the guys went over and met Coach [Bobby] Bowden. He saw that I was in pretty good
shape and had been working out a lot. I said, "I'm trying to beat Chris Weinke's record of being the oldest
guy to play at Florida State."

I got to know his assistant. She called and said, "Coach Bowden said if you really want to come to practice,
you can do it."

I went, me and my driver Danny; I took my dad down there with me. We got down there, and I suited up. I
did all the agility drills, all the cardio, all the conditioning with the team. The next day, I did the full pads and
scrimmaged with them.

"['I Can't Go There'] is the most brutally honest song I've ever written in my whole life. It's a song about my
breakup with my fiancée."

Would it be a Kenny Chesney album if you didn't refer to a Jimmy Buffett song?

Did I refer to a Jimmy Buffett song again?

In "Live Those Songs Again": "Wasting away on the dock of the baby" marries a lyric from "Margaritaville"
to "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay."

I'll be damned. I guess we did. I didn't even realize it. It does seem that way, doesn't it?

You have sort of tapped into the same thing that appeals to his fans, haven't you?

I have tapped into it, definitely -- even with the title of my album, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems. I do sing
about that lifestyle, and how I like to live it when I'm not on the road. I am a beach bum. I love the water. I
have more friends that I hang out with and talk to on some of the islands than I do in Nashville.

NEWS - Kenny Chesney: 'My Dreams Are Coming True'
04/10/2002

(4/10/02, 3 p.m. ET) -- Kenny Chesney is getting ready to release his seventh album to coincide with his current sold-out tour and the album's first single, "Young," which holds the Number Two spot on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems represents a more mature Chesney, who has come a long way from his days in East Tennessee where he dreamed of being a singer. Chesney says that while he may have moved up from being in the audience to being on the stage, he really hasn't changed as a person.

"You know, I see all these kids out there in my audience and all these guys out there in my audience and I'm just like one of 'em. I mean, I'm them," he says. "I've worked very hard and I've gotten lucky. A lot of dreams are coming true for me right now, but I still see myself as the same guy that was sittin' in East Tennessee that had a big dream and it's coming true for us. I think the fans out there that come to our shows kind of feel that way also--that's probably why we've got so many of 'em coming."

Chesney says that being able to relate to his audience is the cornerstone of his success. "I love having success in the music business, but I really don't try to take myself too seriously. I try to go out there and treat people with respect. I'm not saying that I'm never in a bad mood, but still I think I'm like anybody else, but I go out there and I have fun with 'em. I feel like I'm very accessible to the fans. A lot of girls like what we're doing--you know, like me and how we present ourself out there--but a lot of the guys feel like they could hang out with me on a Friday and Saturday night, and they could."

Chesney's No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problems album hits stores April 23. The second leg of his tour of the same name kicks off May 9 in Pelham, Alabama.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

NEWS - Kenny Chesney Says Being A Bachelor 'Doesn't Hurt' Concert Attendance
04/14/2002

(4/14/02, 10 a.m. ET) -- Kenny Chesney is selling records, selling out concert venues, and flying up the country singles charts all at break-neck speed. While his talent has much to do with his success, the fact that he is a bachelor--in fact, "country's hottest bachelor," according to Country Weekly magazine--has added to his mystique, making him hot property with the female fans.

According to Chesney, being single and famous may not help, but it sure doesn't work against him. "I can tell ya, I don't think it hurts," he tells LAUNCH. "Definitely, I don't. Maybe they see me as somebody that they can relate to and somebody they may have a chance to be with. You know, if I'm married--if I'm not available--then maybe they won't see me like that. I don't know if it's helped us a lot, but I don't think it's hurt us either."

Chesney says his current unattached status is more than likely a factor in increased crowd attendance. "Being single and being famous--it's not all it's cracked up to be, because there's definitely some negatives to that, but the positive is, you know, it hasn't hurt our crowd any," he says. "It hasn't hurt it at all, and there's a lot of women coming to our shows, and we like that. I mean, it didn't hurt Conway Twitty at all, so maybe I can carry his flame a little bit."

Chesney's next album, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, hits record stores on April 23. The singer serves as co-producer on the new project.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

Back To Top

NEWS - Kenny Chesney Unveils 'No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems'
04/23/2002

(4/23/02, 1 p.m. ET) -- Kenny Chesney's new album, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, which hits record
stores Tuesday (April 23), is the singer's first full studio album in more than three years.

Chesney says the new project reflects tremendous growth both personally and professionally. "I think that
when the people go out there and they buy this record and they live with it they're gonna see that I've
probably grown up a little bit in three-and-a-half years as a person, and some of those songs are maybe a
little deeper than they're hearing me sing about and there are certain things that I'm singing about that I've
never sang about," he tells LAUNCH. "A lot of this record is a lot of reflection. There's a lot of looking back,
and that wasn't on purpose. It was just probably the part of my life where I was at the time, I guess."

Chesney shares personal moments of his life with his fans through the songs on No Shoes, No Shirt, No
Problems. The collection of music is a reflection of Chesney's past, to some extent, which includes the
painful end of a close relationship. "They're gonna see, I think, that I've grown up a little bit, that this album
is more of an open book to me than I've ever done in my life because the breakup with my fiancee--there's a
lot of that in this record--and there's a lot of lookin' back on this record," he says. "But then again, there's
still a lot of partying and having a good time and I think a little of everything."

Chesney will be the focus of CMT's programming this weekend (April 27-28) as they host a No Shoes, No
Shirt, No Problems weekend. The singer is currently touring in support of the album, playing to capacity
crowds around the country.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

Back To Top

Cowboy Is Growing Up

Jim Patterson
Associated Press
April 24, 2002 07:30:08

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - At age 34, Kenny Chesney is finally starting to feel like an adult. Heartbreak and other life lessons have made the singer more reflective, and he grapples with such weighty issues on his new album, "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems."

"It's hard for a guy to grow up," Chesney said. "It's even harder to know what you want. ... When you're 30-something, you realize you're not 21 anymore."

But even though his songs might be a little more serious now, don't expect Chesney to stop crowing his hit "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" at arenas across the country.

"Look, 'Tractor' isn't going to save the world. But does it get people to the show? Do they have a great time when they listen to it? Not every song has to change the world. I look at music as medicine for whatever ails you."

The song - a silly, sexy and wildly popular concert staple - set Chesney's image in cement. He was viewed as a country pinup, and critics called him a lightweight talent.

"I'm probably the best definition of the gap between industry and fans," admitted Chesney.

Chesney grew up in the East Tennessee town of Luttrell. He made money during his college years at East Tennessee State University playing guitar at parties and bars.

He steadily built his career in the 1990s with hits such as "Me and You," "She's Got It All" and "That's Why I'm Here." Things heated up in 1999 with the breezy "How Forever Feels," which spent six weeks at No. 1, and "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" on the "Everywhere We Go" album.

Chesney knows his fans can be rowdy.

"Let me tell you a story," he begins. "The other night we sold out an arena in Jacksonville, Fla. After the show, I looked out the window from the back of the bus, and I saw this group of young guys and girls in the back of a pickup truck.

"They had one bottle of wine and two paper cups, they had the music cranked as loud as they could get it out of that truck. They were yelling and screaming.

"That's who my audience is. That's who's coming to see us, and there's a lot of them coming. That's where my focus is, and where my heart and soul goes."

Chesney is trying to lead those fans somewhere new. Many of the songs on "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" are about men feeling their youth slip away ("Young," "Never Gonna Feel Like That Again"), or struggling with relationships ("I Can't Go There" and Bruce Springsteen's "One Step Up").

That's how he feels these days. He's still getting over the breakup with his fiancee two years ago.

Chesney had wanted to record Springsteen's sober "One Step Up" years ago but feared he wouldn't be taken seriously.

"I'm so glad I didn't do it on one of the earlier albums, because there's a lot of lessons in that, relationship-wise," he said. "And I've learned those lessons firsthand in my own life the past three years.

"I felt like I was finally mature enough ... to sell it, my own way."

Two years ago, the maturity of Chesney and friend Tim McGraw was questioned after a backstage escapade near Buffalo, N.Y. There was confusion over whether Chesney had permission to ride a police horse, and a scuffle ensued.

The result was a lot of snickering, and criminal charges against both singers. Fearing that an out-of-court settlement would be seen as an admission of guilt, they went to trial.

"Tim and I obviously wish it never happened," said Chesney, who was cleared of disorderly conduct. "We didn't set out to break the law, and the jury up there decided that we didn't break the law."

Chesney cautiously moved up to headlining status this year, after co-headlining with McGraw last year. He's waiting until his deeper new material on "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" gets radio airplay before working much of it into his show.

"Sure I'd like some respect from the critics," he said. "I think we may get some of it with this album. But I don't know if they're ever going to love what I do."

CHESNEY ALBUM PLATINUM IN TWO DAYS
Fri-Sun, Apr. 26-28, 2002 (news changes daily M-F approx. 5pm ET)

Late word from Kenny's camp reports that he's traveling near the speed of sound as he Lear-jets to three cities a day promoting his new album NO SHOES, NO SHIRT, NO FENCES....BUT, the album is flying faster! Having sold 75,000+ copies of No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems on its first day, the re-orders started coming in fast and furious. So fast and furious, in fact, reports are that Chesney's 7th release has shipped surpassing platinum after two days! How does he celebrate the news of joining a club of George Strait, the Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks and Shania Twain?"

"I was looking out the window after our last station visit," Chesney mused, "and I kept trying to say it to myself, because it just doesn't seem real."

ALSO at the Mall of America, over 1000 people started camping out yesterday morning for an acoustic set by Chesney and some of his band Thursday evening. Projections were that over 10-12,000 people would be on hand for the Kenny Chesney unplugged performance.

Kenny and Dale
5-13-2002

NASCAR favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined Kenny Chesney onstage
Saturday night (May 11) in Raleigh, N.C., to sing on Chesney's encore
of "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" and "Jack and Diane." Chesney
called the moment "a total rush." His show drew a record-setting
20,600 paid attendance to Alltel Pavilion, an amphitheater. 05/13/02

NEWS - Kenny Chesney Fans Prove No Tickets, No Entry...No Problem
05/14/2002

(5/14/02, 12 p.m. ET) -- Kenny Chesney's concert in Raleigh, North
Carolina on Saturday (May 11) was no different from his previous sold-
out shows; however, fans that couldn't get tickets took matters into
their own hands. They began cutting large holes in the fence
surrounding the city's All-Tel Center outdoor venue to gain entry to
the concert and join the other 20,600 attendees. While no arrests
were made, police guarded the holes and turned fans away.

"It sounds like the kind of thing we would of done back when [we]
were young, though I don't think there was ever a show I wanted to go
to that was ever that sold-out," said Chesney.

The multiplatinum-selling artist's new album, No Shoes, No Shirt, No
Problems debuted in the Number One spot on both the pop and country
albums charts in the midst of his current standing-room-only tour of
the same name. Chesney says that although he's finally accomplishing
things he's only ever dreamed about before, he still very much
identifies with average guy sitting in the audience.

He tells LAUNCH, "I've gotten lucky, I've worked hard, and a lot of
dreams are coming true for me right now, but I'm still...I still see
myself as the same guy that was sittin' over in East Tennessee that
had a big dream, and it's coming true for us."

Chesney attributes part of his popularity to the fact that he is that
everyday guy that fans can easily relate to. He explains,. "I think
that the fans out there that come to our shows kind of feel that way
also. That's probably why we got so many of 'em comin'."

The second leg of Chesney's No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems tour
kicked off last week with opening acts Jamie O'Neal, Phil Vassar, and
Montgomery Gentry. Chesney's new single, "The Good Stuff," is
currently climbing the country charts.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

He Has a Way With the Ladies
Tuesday, May 28, 2002

Country singer Kenny Chesney crosses the charts as he says the things
that women want to hear.

By RANDY LEWIS, Times Staff Writer
Kenny Chesney, performing in Devore over the weekend, had the women
in the audience singing along.
GINA FERAZZI / LAT

You could whip up all sorts of complicated explanations for how
country singer Kenny Chesney caught everyone outside his fan club and
record company by surprise this month by landing his latest album at
No. 1, not just on country charts but on pop charts as well.

But looking around during his concert Saturday at Blockbuster
Pavilion in Devore, on his first headlining tour of arenas and
amphitheaters, it was clear the answer boils down to one thing: women.

Women don't just like Chesney. They loooove this buff 34-year-old out
of little Luttrell, Tenn.

It's not just his sex appeal, though, that's a big factor in the
rapid upward swing of his career arc in the last three years.

"His tractor is sexy," said 23-year-old Lorie Sellas of Highland, one
of thousands of young women happily salivating over Chesney on
Saturday. "If he were three inches taller, I'd marry him."

Women, outnumbering men three or four to one, were all smiles,
singing along to lyrics you'd think they'd tattooed on their hearts--
even those from the 3-week-old "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems"
album.

As much as female fans hooted approval at his bicep-baring tight red
tank top, many also kept urging him to lose it.

But even more than teasingly playful tunes, à la his 1999 hit "She
Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," what's quietly turned Chesney into one of
country's new heavyweights is the hyper-romanticism of ballads such
as "She's Got It All," "I Lost It" and his ode to lifetime
commitment, "How Forever Feels."

"Oh, my God," said 19-year-old Meghan Hunt of Riverside, sitting on
the grass far from the stage a few minutes before Chesney
arrived. "He sings what women want to hear, and it's all true too."

Some critics have accused him of pandering to the young women in his
audience, but to Chesney it's catering, something that comes
naturally to the son of a single mom with only one sibling, a half
sister who is eight years younger.

"I saw the kind of stuff that my mom used to have to go through, so
I'm sensitive to that," Chesney said earlier in the week during an
interview on the rooftop of his West Hollywood hotel, where he'd
pulled up a chair to catch some early afternoon sun.

"Conway Twitty used to say he was singing all the things that women
wanted to hear from their husbands and boyfriends that they could
never say. In a way I'm sort of continuing that tradition."

With the "No Shoes" album, however, Chesney, who also headlines
Thursday at the Greek Theatre, feels he's breaking from his own
tradition.

"This is the first record I've ever done where I feel like there's a
little of me in every song. And there's a lot of me in a lot of the
songs," he says."On my other albums, there were maybe three or four
things I really related to. Sometimes I've recorded a song because I
thought it might be a great radio record."

Two things made "No Shoes" different: extra time afforded him by a
greatest hits album released after his previous studio
album, "Everywhere We Go," and new life realizations after he and his
fiancée called off their engagement three years ago.

"When that didn't happen, I went through a lot of soul searching," he
says.

"I think I grew up a little bit, and that can be hard for a guy.
Losing something or someone you really love forces you to grow up,
and I think these songs reflect the different maturity level I have
in my life now, that I didn't have when I recorded 'Tractor.' "

Indeed, "No Shoes" includes songs that reflect on mistakes ("A Lot of
Things Different"), that express appreciation for what one does have
("The Good Stuff") and that express respect and love for another even
when things didn't work out ("On the Coast of Somewhere Beautiful").

Perhaps the biggest stretch, for both Chesney and his audience, is
his rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "One Step Up," from
Springsteen's 1987 "Tunnel of Love" album.

"I've always really loved the song, but I had no idea that one day I
would painfully learn the lesson of it," he says. "I almost recorded
it a couple of albums back, but I'm glad I waited until I had lived
it."

He says he's also glad his commercial success is happening now
instead of earlier in a career that began nearly a dozen years ago.
Thanks to the slow build before he posted two albums that have topped
sales of 1 million apiece ("Everywhere" and "Greatest Hits"), Chesney
thinks he's better prepared for the attention he's getting from his
No. 1 debut on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

Nevertheless, shortly before Billboard made it official, RCA Label
Group Chairman Joe Galante took Chesney aside and gave him a little
speech, based on what he'd witnessed when Alan Jackson accomplished
the same feat earlier this year with his album "Drive," propelled by
the Sept. 11-inspired song "Where Were You (When the World Stopped
Turning)."

"I happened to be at a worldwide management meeting when that came
out," Galante says. "All of a sudden these [other music-industry
executives] are all asking 'Who ... is Alan Jackson?' and Alan
obviously was a much bigger star. So here's this kid whose album is
going to debut above all the hip-hop, alternative and rock releases.
I knew people would pick up the paper and say 'God Almighty, who is
Kenny Chesney?'

"We [at RCA] knew it was coming, but nobody else seemed to pick up on
it, including most people in Nashville," Galante adds. "What Kenny
did was through hard work. He's got a great album, he puts on a great
show and he's put in years of hard work getting here. It's like they
say, he did it the old-fashioned way: He earned it."

Kenny Chesney will be joined by Montgomery Gentry and others Thursday
at 7 p.m. at the Greek Theatre, 2700 Vermont Road, L.A. (323) 665-
1927. $28.50-$59.50.

Chesney Gets to Meet Buffett
Wed May 29, 1:27 PM ET

NASHVILLE (AP) - Kenny Chesney faced an odd dilemma while playing in
Las Vegas. He realized that his idol, Jimmy Buffett, was playing at
the MGM Grand while he was playing right across the street at the
Mandalay Bay.

Chesney got to spend a little pool time with Buffett, where he said
he was dismayed that he missed the Pirate's show.

But faced with the chance to see at least the first half, Chesney ran
across the street to the MGM Grand, watched Buffett do a few songs,
and ran back to do his own show while watching his watch the whole
time.

Chesney's latest album is called, "No Shirts, No Shoes, No Problems."

Some of his hits have from the 1990s have included "Me and
You," "She's Got It All" and "That's Why I'm Here." In 1999 the
breezy "How Forever Feels," spent six weeks at No. 1.

Flameworthy Music Awards

6/13/02, 12 p.m. ET) -- The fans have spoken, and Kenny Chesney was
their top vote-getter at the first-ever completely fan-voted CMT
Flameworthy Video Music Awards held in Nashville Wednesday (June 12)
night. Chesney was the only multiple award-winner, garnering trophies
for male video of the year and video of the year for "Young."

The singer was honored by the fans' two pats on the back, and offered
some words of encouragement to anyone pursuing a goal in life while
accepting his first award of the evening."We've been on tour all
year, and every night I go out on stage and I hear the cheers and the
crowd just like that. You give me one of these every night, and I
wanna tell y'all I really appreciate you for lovin' what I do, for
believin' in me and my music," he said. "I was at East Tennessee
University watchin' an award show one night and I saw a bunch of guys
come up here and get an award and I wanted to be that guy so bad and
tonight I'm sittin' up here, so if there's any of you out there
that's got any dreams, don't let anybody tell you you can't do
anything, alright? I mean it."

The fans applauded Alan Jackson's patriotic effort spurred by the
tragic events of September 11. The poignant "Where Were You When The
World Stopped Turning" captured the award for love your country
video, a surprise to Jackson who opted not to film a clip for this
particular song.

"I appreciate CMT recognizing an award for this subject about the
country, 'cause I've always loved my country," he said. "I feel like
I kind of cheated a little bit on this one 'cause we didn't really
make a video for that song. I chose not to do a video for that
song 'cause it was such a sensitive subject. Of course, that's just a
live cut from the CMA Awards the first night we did the song and it
was a very moving night for me. It was the easiest video I ever made,
but it was the hardest performance I ever had to do."

The Dixie Chicks resurfaced after an extended break between albums to
receive the first-ever Flameworthy video visionary award, something
the trio wasn't sure it deserved, according to lead singer Natalie
Maines.

"Video visionary award struck me as funny as I was looking back at
some of those clips, thinking 'I think we were blind.' There were
some ugly moments going on there, but we always do have fun, and it
is important to us to try to better ourselves. I don't know how
wonderful our videos are, but we try to spend more money and make
them better every time and there's lots of people to thank for that,"
she said.

Brooks & Dunn took home the night's first trophy for group duo of the
year for its video "Only In America." Now having the distinction of
winning the first-ever CMT Flameworthy award, Kix Brooks was
applauding the new award show backstage.

" You know, we were talking about it today," he said. "It's really
fun...I think the whole concept of having a video thing and just
taking an award show to a different place is a great idea."

Winning the award for Flameworthy LOL (laugh out loud) video of the
year for his "I Wanna Talk About Me" video, Toby Keith acknowledged
the lack of music business politics in an award show voted on by the
fans. He told reporters backstage, "You can't leave these award shows
and say that you were looked over. If I hadn't won anything tonight,
I wouldn't have had no soapbox to get up on and say anything about.
When the fans vote for it, that's what it's all about. Just being
nominated and being able to attend here meant that the majority of
the fans loved what you were doing, so, we're all winners there."

Among the shows highlights were performances by Jackson, who opened
the show; Martina McBride; Chesney; Travis Tritt; and Brooks & Dunn,
who surprised the audience by being joined onstage by ZZ Top.

Along with performing, McBride took home an award for female video of
the year for "Blessed." Backstage, McBride expressed the importance
of music videos. "You know, they're another way we can be creative,
which is always fun. It's another way to express the song. I also
think they're just incredibly important for your career, I mean, the
fans... It's another way they can see you, you get invited into their
living room several times a day. And, (it's) another way they can
relate to you. It just makes it more memorable."

The CMT Flameworthy Video Music Awards, which was hosted by actress
Kathy Najimy (Sister Act, Veronica's Closet), featured such Hollywood
award presenters as comedian Carrot Top, Verne J. Troyer (Austin
Powers' Mini-Me), Ty Pennington (Trading Spaces), and Tennessee Titan
Eddie George.

Chesney Finds "The Good Stuff" Close to Home
Lisa Young
06/28/2002
Walk into the RCA Label Group offices in Nashville, and the first
person you see is security director Rusty Martin. The former
Mississippi highway patrolman is quick with a smile and a kind word.
His sunny personality hides the fact that he's been through hell and
back and has a song to prove it.

Martin and his late wife of 28 years, Rebecca, were the inspiration
for Kenny Chesney's latest Top 5 hit, "The Good Stuff." Rebecca was
diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1994 and bravely fought the illness
until her death in 2000.

"Becky was just a mother and a best friend, and she always had
something positive to say about somebody," Martin told CMT News. "We
were so blessed in a bad situation, because she was home and we were
all around the bed holding hands until the last breath was taken."

It was that detail, and Martin's positive attitude in the face of
tragedy, that moved songwriter Jim Collins. He took the tale to a
writing appointment with fellow tunesmith Craig Wiseman, and the two
wrote "The Good Stuff" in one day.

"I think what impressed me about Rusty was, rather than take the
negative about it and feel sorry for himself, he took the good things
that they had and used them," Collins said. "He was talking about all
the happy times and the memories they shared."

Wiseman remembers they were mindful of Martin's feelings about using
his life story in a song.

"I felt all weird and thought, `We have to give this to Rusty,'"
Wiseman said. "I gave him this demo and he went home and listened to
it with his daughter and thought it was great. The next thing I know,
things were taking off, and I said, `Rusty, are you OK with
this, `cause I'll put the brakes on it right now.'"

Chesney was aware of the Martins' struggle long before it was written
into a song. When Becky's chemotherapy treatments were going on, he
stopped by the record label and found Rusty with a bald head.

"He had shaved his head completely bald so he could make his wife
feel better about it," Chesney told CMT News. "I thought, man, I want
to be loved like that. I want to love somebody that much to do that
for them. And remembering that had a lot to do with me recording the
song."

Although the song is not a literal re-telling of the Martins' story,
several details of their relationship made it into the final version
including the mention of "that string of pearls" and "a new T-shirt
saying I'm a grandpa." Chesney dedicated the song to Rusty in the
liner notes for No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems. And, ironically, the
song was released to radio on what would have been the Martins' 29th
wedding anniversary.

"It's something to keep for my grandchildren, my children and me,"
Martin says. "I'm honored they'd do something like this, and I know
Becky would be tickled. It's something that will last us a lifetime."

The song already has touched Chesney's fans, many of whom have also
lost loved ones to cancer. Several have called Martin to talk about
their common experiences and offer support.

"It would be real easy to think about the situation we were going
through and the months that Becky wasn't able to get out of bed, but
we've had lots of blessings," Martin said. "And that's the way I like
to look at it."

Back To Top

Can you imagine hearing back from your hero?
6-28-02

For years, Kenny Chesney had wanted to cut the song One Step Up by
his musical hero, Bruce Springsteen, but he thought he couldn't do it
justice. Eventually, Kenny says, he believed he had the kind of life
experiences that that would let him cut One Step Up with credibility.

Afterward, he sent the Boss a hand-written note that said just that
and, with some trepidation, included a copy of his version of the
song. He need not have been nervous.

Springsteen actually sent back a hand-written note that was
complimentary of Kenny's note and his song.

''As a songwriter, you spend a lot of time trying to create
understanding and commonality. Your letter really touched me where I
live … and more importantly, where I work,'' he wrote.

''My record Tunnel of Love always had a 'country' soul to it. You
brought a lot of sensitivity to the lyrics of One Step Up. Thanks for
the care.''

Is it even possible for Kenny to ever have a cooler musical moment
than that?

Back To Top

Kenny Chesney Cover Gets Kudos From Springsteen
Fri Jun 28,12:57 PM ET

(6/28/02, 1 p.m. ET) -- Kenny Chesney's new album, No Shoes, No
Shirt, No Problems, contains one cover song, Bruce Springsteen's "One
Step Up." Chesney initially struggled with idea of cutting the song.

"You know, it was pretty intimidating," he tells LAUNCH. "First of
all, I hate it when people cover songs. There's a lot of great songs
in Nashville. Why do it? And then I shot that theory full of holes on
this record by covering of all people, one of the greatest
songwriters in our history in American music--Springsteen. This is a
song that I've always loved. I love the melody. I love what it said.
I felt like when I heard this song on the Tunnel Of Love album that
it was a country lyric."

Chesney says that his own life experiences over the past few years
helped convince him that now, if ever, was a good time to record "One
Step Up," he explains. "I have been wanting to record this song for
awhile, but I just didn't think people would take me seriously if I
did it. There's a lot of lessons in this song, and I've kinda learned
these lessons in my own life in the past three and a half years and I
finally felt that I was maybe mature enough or I was grown up enough
and had lived this song enough to pull it off. I almost didn't do it,
but I'm very glad I did. I'm very proud of the record we made on it."

So proud, in fact, that Chesney sent Springsteen a note with his
rendition of "One Step Up." In return, Chesney received a handwritten
message from "The Boss" complimenting his efforts on the song. ''My
record Tunnel Of Love always had a 'country' soul to it," wrote
Springsteen, according to the Tennessean. "You brought a lot of
sensitivity to the lyrics of 'One Step Up.' Thanks for the care.''

Chesney is currently on his No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems tour,
with opening acts Phil Vassar, Montgomery Gentry, and Jamie O'Neal.
Chesney's current single, "The Good Stuff," sits at Number Four on
the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

Back To Top

Kenny Chesney Makes Mom's Dream Come True
Wed Jul 3, 8:57 AM ET

(7/3/02, 7 a.m. ET) -- Kenny Chesney had numerous offers to perform
this Fourth Of July; however, the singer is taking the day off to
spend with his mother. Chesney promised his mom, a big fan of the
legendary group the Eagles, that if they ever came close to his
hometown of Luttrell, Tennessee he would take her to the concert. The
Eagles are performing in Knoxville on Thursday (July 4), and that's
just where Chesney and his mother will be.

"I told Don Henley all about my mom, and she's gonna get to meet the
whole band," said Chesney. "It's one of the coolest things about what
I do for a living, beyond playing our shows and making records--
getting to make other people's dreams come true."

Chesney says he is only too happy to treat his mother to this
show. "My mom, when I was growing up, had the best attitude and
worked so hard to make sure my sister and I had everything," he
said. "This is one of those times where I can give her something
back, one of those things you'd never in a million years think would
ever happen, and truthfully, I don't know who's more excited--her or
me!"

Chesney is in the midst of his popular No Shoes, No Shirt, No
Problems tour with opening acts Montgomery Gentry, Phil Vassar, and
Jamie O'Neal. His current single, "The Good Stuff," is in the top
five on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

Chesney's Poison Suprise
7/25/02, 1 p.m. ET) -- Tuesday night (July 23) might have been Kenny
Chesney's night off between shows, but the singer and his band
decided instead to relive their pasts and have a little fun. While at
a Denver hotel bar on Tuesday--en route to a headlining show
Wednesday night (July 24) at Cheyenne, Wyoming's Frontier Days event--
Chesney and his band began reminiscing about the Colorado city's
country music club, the Grizzly Rose. "It's probably been five years
or so since we last played there," Chesney confessed. "But those
crowds are always so good and we always had so much fun, we figured
what the hell."

After placing a phone call to the club and another to a local
Denver radio station, Chesney and his band headed for the Grizzly
Rose to take the stage that night. Less than 90 minutes after
contacting the radio station, more than 1,100 fans had rushed to the
club to see the last minute show. "(I) figure I'm gonna play some of
my friends' songs...certainly some of Tim's (McGraw) stuff, and some
real old country...some rock and roll," Chesney said prior to the
show. "We're gonna play everything we like to hear when we're in a
bar. Heck, we're gonna play a buncha stuff we played when we were
still in the bars, and we're gonna have ourselves a real good time."

Chesney recently wrapped up his high-grossing No Shoes, No Shirt, No
Problems tour with opening acts Montgomery Gentry, Phil Vassar, Jamie
O'Neal, and Sara Evans. Chesney's current single, "The Good Stuff,"
is at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

Back To Top

Chesney Breaks Attendance Record at Frontier Days
On Wednesday (July 24), Kenny Chesney broke the long-standing
attendance record at Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyo., with 15,057
tickets sold. "When you're growing up, you always heard about
Frontier Days," Chesney says. "It's like one of those places where
real cowboys come together and compete. They take it very seriously …
and they also take their music seriously, which always makes it a
date you want to get on your books." The previous record of 14,584
was held by the Beach Boys. 07/30/02

Industry Honors Chesney for Song
Tue Aug 6,10:56 AM ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Kenny Chesney, as well as songwriters Craig
Wiseman and Jim Collins, will be honored Tuesday night in Nashville
by The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers and
Broadcast Music Inc.

The party celebrates the success of Chesney's hit "The Good Stuff,"
which has topped Billboard's country chart for four weeks.

Chesney says the song is close to his heart because it was inspired
by the guard at his label's building. His wife's chemotherapy made
her hair fall out, and Rusty shaved his head so she'd feel better
about it.

Chesney says even though the song won't bring his wife back, it's the
kind of song that reminds people that love exists in unusual places.

Chesney took last weekend off from his "No Shoes, No Shirt, No
Problems" tour, but returns to the road this weekend.

Chesney Gets Special Surprise
Wed Aug 7,12:39 PM ET

NASHVILLE (AP) - Kenny Chesney's party last night in Nashville,
honoring the success of his song "The Good Stuff," also included a
secret surprise.

Chesney was presented with a big platinum ticket, commemorating more
than one million tickets sold on his "No Shoes, No Shirt, No
Problems" tour. The tour, Chesney's first as a headliner, has grossed
$17 million dollars, and stands as the only country tour on
Billboard's Top Tours of this year.

Chesney has a few more dates at fairs and arenas to play, before he
retires the "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" tour.

Chesney says he appreciates the honor of having so many people
passionate about his music.

While he's not sure what to do with the giant platinum ticket, he
says "It's pretty cool to have it."

Chesney to wake up Manhattan with Today Show Appearance
Kenny Chesney Is Wakin` Up Early

Most people think rock stars sleep until noon -- especially on a
Saturday. But Kenny Chesney`s got places to go and people to kick
into high gear on August 24 as the man branded as "Hunky Tonk" by no
less than People is slated to get country on "Today Weekend" on the
Plaza at Rockefeller Center August 24.

"Funny thing is when you grow up where I did," says the Luttrell,
Tennessean, "you just get up. It`s an early town, between the farmers
and the people working those regular ole jobs. Nobody sleeps in --
and it kinda teaches you that if you hit it early, the whole day has
a better chance of being what you want to make it -- and that`s a
pretty good way to be thinking when your feet hit the floor."

Chesney certainly seems to have a knack for making his days be
whatever he wants them to be. With several attendance records set at
major venues across the country this summer -- including last week`s
bust-up of the longstanding BeachBoys` standing room only numbers at
the legendary Cheyenne (Wyoming) Frontier Days and Rodeo -- and his
latest album`s debut atop Billboard`s all-genre Top 200 chart in
April and platinum certification on second day reorders, Chesney
watches his wildest dreams come true every day.

"Heck, when we hit the top of the pop chart with No Shoes, No Shirt,
No Problems and Katy Couric congratulated me on `The Today Show,` I
thought my head was gonna explode," Chesney confesses with a
laugh. "I love her -- and the fact that she was actually talking
about my record, well, that`s the kinda thing an ole boy like me
doesn`t even ever dream of."

Though Couric won`t be hosting when Chesney hits the stage at
Rockefeller Center, don`t be surprised if the double double platinum
success doesn`t leave a little something behind for her. And in the
interim, the emergent superstar who`s just notched his 8th #1 with
the straight country song about the things that really matter in "The
Good Stuff" is setting his sites on making Manhattan a little bit
country and a little bit Carribean.

"We`re not quite sure what we`re gonna play," says Chesney, "but
we`re gonna make leave our stamp -- and we`re gonna make sure that
everyone who comes out is gonna have fun. It`s like I saw every night
when we`re onstage, `When you come in here, I want you to leave all
your problems out there. For a few minutes, forget it all -- and just
have a good time.`

"New Yorkers are intense, but that means they can connect as hard as
anybody. If we can get them to leave Rock smiling and ready to hit it
on Saturday, then me and the band can feel like we got a lot of
people started on their weekends with the right kinda attitude."

As The Hollywood Reporter raved, "Kenny Chesney knows his audience"
and Rolling Stone offered, "Chesney delivers real feeling," it was
Entertainment Weekly who proffered "Country veteran Kenny Chesney
hits commercial paydirt by mining the genre`s haunted roots." Even
the notoriously critical Peter Cooper of The Tennessean wrote his
songs "offer a depth of a feeling that`s consistent with country
music of this or any era."

The young man tagged "Country`s Hottest Bachelor" by Country Weekly
continues touring, doing dates on his own through September. And this
wake-up call for network t.v. is just one more chance to get out
there and get it happening -- something that lights Chesney`s fire in
way that truly carpe`s the diem.

8/08/2002

Chesney Rewards Session Musicians
Kenny Chesney has provided $1,000 bonuses to 23 studio musicians who
performed on his latest hit album, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems.
Chesney made the presentations earlier this week after inviting the
studio players to join him for a catered breakfast on Music Row.
Chesney told the group, "I've had a really good year this year -- and
you guys were absolutely a part of it." Although session musicians
routinely receive gold and platinum plaques from artists, one of the
recipients noted that Chesney's gesture exceeded anything he had
experienced during three decades in the studios. 08/20/02

CMT.com

Chesney Thanks Album Musicians
Tue Aug 20,12:02 PM ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Kenny Chesney started the week with a
personal thank you to the session players who helped make his "No
Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem" album such a success.

He catered breakfast for the 23 musicians who played on the CD, and
passed out $1,000 checks to each one. Chesney told them he'd had a
really good year, and they were a part of it, and let them know how
much he appreciates the talent they shared with him.

How did the unconventional gesture go over? One musician marveled
that he's been playing on records for 30 years, some that were even
bigger sellers, but no one has ever done something like that for him.
He says just the gesture, and the feeling that Chesney appreciates
what they played, was "humbling."

Chesney's track "The Good Stuff" tops Billboard's Hot Country Singles
and Tracks airplay chart for the sixth week.

Yahoo! News

Kenny Chesney's Poison Suprise
8-26-02

Kenny Chesney's influences run the gamut from Randy Travis and Keith
Whitley to 80's heavy metal hair bands like Warrant and Poison, so
imagine Kenny's surprise when the lead singer of Poison, Brett
Michaels, came backstage to say hi at Kenny's Syracuse show.

"There's the guy from all those videos from back when I was about the
age of a lot of my fans today," says Kenny. "You can't help but
remember how you felt back then and what that means today. It's
heavy."

And it got even heavier -- Brett had the night off, so he and Kenny
decided to give the fans a treat by performing an unplugged rendition
of Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."

"I told Brett how much that song did for me when I was a teenager,
and he laughed," said Kenny. "It was so cool, to look over there and
see him. It was another one of those 'is this really happening to
me?' moments."

Published on: August 26, 2002

Chesney's Single Breaks Personal Record
Kenny Chesney now has the longest-running No. 1 single of 2002. Chesney
achieved the distinction this week when "The Good Stuff" remained at the
top of
Billboard's country singles chart for the seventh consecutive week. In
doing
so, Chesney also surpasses his personal best with a six-week No. 1 with
"How
Forever Feels." Commenting on "The Good Stuff," Chesney says, "We knew
when we
cut this song, it was powerful. It came out of real life and there's
nothing
that connects with people or touches them like a song that comes from
the way
someone's lived." 8/28/02

Kenny Chesney Says 'Hunk' Status Propelled Career
Wed Aug 28, 8:57 AM ET

(8/28/02, 7 a.m. ET) -- The year 2002 has been the biggest year of
Kenny Chesney's career. The singer debuted at the top of the
Billboard 200 all-genre albums chart with his latest album, No Shoes,
No Shirt, No Problems; his recent inaugural headlining tour of the
same name is the highest-grossing country tour to date; and his
current single, "The Good Stuff," has held the Number One spot on the
country singles charts for the past seven weeks.

Chesney has been propelled into superstar status, and along with that
comes the title of "sex symbol," something the singer says has
definitely been a factor in his soaring career. "I think it had
something to do with it. Sometimes I don't understand the sex symbol
thing because I feel like the same guy that I have been. I've kind of
redefined my body and the way I look, and I've done that over a
period of two and a half years. I took my percent body fat from 19 to
9, and I'm able to represent myself in maybe a little different way
than I used to do a couple years ago, so I guess people, they see
that as sexy...I don't know," he says.

Chesney says his female fans might consider him sexy because of the
messages in the songs he chooses to record. "Women out there may
think I'm a sex symbol because I sing about things that they want to
hear and about their insecurities. It may give them courage to leave
somebody. It may give 'em courage to stay. I think I'm singing about
things to women where they may think it's sexy that I even think
about it. I was brought up with a single mother, and I guess that's
where I get some of that," he says.

Chesney's next single from No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems will be "A
Lot Of Things Different."

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

Kenny Chesney Closes Out "Wayne Brady Show"'s Debut Week 9/6 --
Holding at #1 for the 5th Week, It's All "The Good Stuff"
9-2002

Nashville, TN: As "The Good Stuff" remains camped out at the #1 spot
on
Billboard's Country Singles Chart, Kenny Chesney continues his reign
as country music's hottest young star. To that end, "The Wayne Brady
Show" has asked the Luttrell, Tennessean to close out the final show
of their debut week -- playing live on the eagerly anticipated day-
timer that's being touted as the successor to "Rosie" at the Commons
of the Farmers Market in Los Angeles' Televison City on Friday
September 6th.

Chesney will be "The Wayne Brady Show's" first country performer.

"We love to go to California," says Chesney with a broad grin. "It's
not
exactly the islands, but it's as close as you can get and still do
media. and
the idea that we're going to be able to play outside in the middle of
the day
means we can even work on our tans while we're working!"

That follow-the-sun attitude permeates Chesney's #1 Billboard all-
genre Top 200 debuting No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems. And his
nearly third double platinum release's laidback ease of capturing
moments from people's lives has helped propel the man called "Hunky
Tonk" by People to this year's largest country tour gross ($17
million so far, and counting).

"You sing about the things people live," says the man who recently
received a platinum ticket, commemorating over one million fans
played to on this year's tour. "Sure, you sometimes touch on the
hurt, but what you really want to sing about is the stuff that feels
good, that makes you forget the pain. When we get up on that stage, I
tell the audience every night: 'whatever happened at work or with
your girlfriend, whatever problems you're having. when you come in
here, you leave that out there!'

"People need to forget that stuff for a while. If I can do anything
for my
fans, I wanna know they came, they had fun and they went home happy."
With his rigorous tour schedule winding up in September, the man
recently named Male and Video Artist of the Year at CMT: Country
Music Television's fan-voted Flameworthy Awards will sow a little of
that happiness in New York City when he and his band decamp at
Rockefeller Center on August 24. The mini-concert is part of "Today
Weekend"'s summer performance series -- and it's guaranteed to
bring a downhome feel good start to the Big Apple's Saturday morning.

Hailed as "Country's Hottest Bachelor" by Country Weekly, No Shoes,
No Shirt, No Problems marks a maturation for the emergent
singer/songwriter with back-to-back double platinum certifications
for his Greatest Hits and
Everywhere We Go. Entertainment Weekly, Blender, The Los Angeles
Times, People, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe have cited
his ability to distill life for his fans -- with Rolling Stone
raving, "Chesney delivers real feeling."

With "The Good Stuff" looking good for a couple more weeks, Kenny
Chesney just keeps doing what he does best: making music and making
people smile. And now, you don't even have to leave your house to get
a little attitude adjustment with a definitely Carribean cowboy feel.

TV Guide Article

Down at the Waffle House on Sidco Drive in Nashville, the waitresses
know a hot country star when they see one. "He's cu-u-ute!" one says
of Kenny Chesney, who drops in for breakfast now and again. "That
voice!" another muses.

"Yeah, but he's cu-u-u-u-ute!" Right now, the buff 34 year-old object
of their affections is at home south of town, composing his own
breakfast concoction. "Growin' up, I learned to cook myself," Chesney
says as he carefully separates egg whites from their yolks. After
cooking the egg whites, he smothers them in jalapeno and salsa,
creating a dish nearly as sizzling as his smash album, No Shoes, No
Shirt, No Problems.

No Shoes, which debuted at No. 1 on both country and pop charts last
May, has sold more than a million copies, launched two hit summer
singles ("Young" and "The Good Stuff") and propelled CHesney into the
top ranks of Nashville supernovas. Not bad for a guy whose career
ambled along through four albums until his breakthrough hit in 1999,
they coy "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy." Chesney's success, along
with his three nominations at this year's CMA's -- for Album of the
Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year--
represents a vindication of sorts. An East Tennessee State University
grad (he majored in marketing) who got his start playing for tips to
beer-drenched revelers at Chucky's Trading Post in Johnson City,
Tennessee, Chesney with his muscle shirts and pouty, come hither
poses, attracted a major female fan base. But No Shoes's honky-tonk
songs and ballads such as "I Can't Go There," about the aftermath of
his 2000 breakup with former fiancee Mandy Weals, and "Dreams," a
song inspired by the romantic travails of his hairdresser mother,
Karen Chandler, 53, reveal an emotional intensity and prove he's much
more than just "the hunk in the hat," as Nashville's Country Weekly
Magazine labeled him earlier this year.

"'Dreams' is about the insecurities that a woman feels when she's in
her fifties," explains Chesney, who was raised in Lutrell, Tennessee,
by his mother (she and his father, Dave, 59, a retired school
teacher, were separated before he was born). "My Mom called one day
and goes, 'Kenny, all men my age want younger woman.' It made me
think that our needs are pretty basic. We all want somebody who will
be there for us. It doesn't seem like too much to ask, but it's the
hardest thing to get sometimes."

Fresh off the road from country music's top-grossing tour of the
summer (it pulled in 17 million), Chesney ponders how far he's
come. "It's been a long, long journey from Chucky's," he says. "Being
nominated means the world to me. But if I win...well, it's going to
be a great night."

KENNY AND KID ROCK COLLABORATIONS
2002

Kenny Chesney, who just wrapped a Pay-Per-View special for airing
sometime in '03 of his breakout No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems Tour -
- grossing over $24 million at final cooount and playing to in excess
of 1.8 million fans - went straight from the Denver post-production
to Los Angeles to hang out with his pal Kid Rock. Not only did the
pair re-cut "Lukenbach, Texas (Back To The Basics of Love)" with
Chesney's road-hard live band for RCA's upcoming tribute to Waylon
Jennings, but the pair actually pulled out guitars and tried to do a
little writing.

"We got a couple things started," Chesney says. "He really gets
country music... and he understands where it should be, that pocket.
So it's not as odd as it sounds. We'd originally cut 'Lukenbach,
Texas' when the tour rolled through Detroit this summer, but we
wanted to see if we went into the studio when the band and I weren't
trying to get to the next town, if we could beat what we had."

"From there, we started talking about music and songs and what we
like... and one thing led to another until we figured we oughta break
out the guitars and see what we could come up with."
No word on when the pair plan to get back together to finish what
they started. Look for Kenny to perform "A Lot of Things Different"
on "The 36th Annual Country Music Association Awards," live this
Wednesday on CBS.

A Lot Of Things Different

(9/20/02, 7 a.m. ET) -- Kenny Chesney's new single, "A Lot Of Things
Different," speaks to the subject of lamenting certain actions and
decisions one makes in life. According to Chesney, he was drawn to
the song, which was co-written by Grand Ole Opry star Bill Anderson,
because he felt an instant personal connection.

Most importantly, however, "A Lot Of Things Different" is a song that
all people can relate to, as Chesney tells LAUNCH. "This song is very
subtle. This song is really about an emotion that I think really
defines us all in one way or another, and that's regrets. Everybody
I've played this song for, they go, 'Wow, I know what my line is.' In
other words, they know what they relate to the most, whether it's
spending more time with their parents, or going to church with their
grandmother, or asking the girl out they never really did, or lovin'
their wife more."

Chesney says he relates to more than one line in the song. "For me,
I've got a little bit of all those things, even down to the Elvis
line. Elvis Presley came to Knoxville, Tennessee in 1976, and I was
eight years old, and I wanted to go see him and Momma said I
couldn't, and so I relate to that song from the Elvis line to losing
somebody that I loved. This song is so much me, and I think there's a
little bit of everybody in this song, somewhere or another."

"A Lot Of Things Different" is the follow-up to Chesney's multiple-
week chart topper, "The Good Stuff." The new single is rapidly
climbing the charts days before its official radio release date.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

ON THE ROAD WITH KENNY CHESNEY
Published on: October 18, 2002

What was it really like behind the scenes of his hit No Shoes, No
Shirt, No Problems Tour? We asked Kenny himself to tell us!

Kenny Chesney
Story by Kenny Chesney

West Palm Beach, Fla., to a lot of people is a place of relaxation. A
vacation destination on the Atlantic Ocean. But for me, at the end of
January of this year, it was anything but.

West Palm Beach – where we started the madness that was the No Shoes,
No Shirt, No Problems Tour. My first headlining tour! My first time
crisscrossing the interstates of America as the guy going on last.

Being a headliner is risky business, but last year, while on tour
with Tim [McGraw], it felt like the fans were telling me it was time.
Still, waking up on my bus outside Mars Music Center in West Palm, I
was scared to death. What if nobody comes? There are a lot of seats
out there to fill. I asked myself all day while shooting baskets with
my guys: "Am I really ready for this?"

Before this year, I'd sometimes leave the bus and walk to the stage
to peek at the crowd to see how big it was. That night in Florida, I
stayed on the bus. I was too scared to look!

As the guys and I met in the dressing room to do our ritual, I could
feel the energy of the crowd. As "You Shook Me All Night Long"
played, I could hear the crowd singing along. David Farmer, my road
manager, and I looked at each other and just grinned. I asked, "How
many people are out there?," but he wouldn't tell me. He said, "I
want you to see it for yourself when you hit that stage."

Eight years of touring – an emotional roller coaster ride where the
highs were really high, the lows really low – led to this moment.
When the screen I appear from behind opened that night, I saw 11,000
fans in front of me. I could hardly sing that first song 'cause my
heart was racing so fast. I couldn't believe it. I looked at my band
and said, "Let's just throw it at them and see what they throw back."

And that's what we did!

All year long we threw it at them, playing on the same stages our
musical heroes played and still play. Sometimes on tour the cities
can run together in your mind, but I remember something about each
and every night on this tour. There were nights I was sure it
couldn't get any better – only to have the next crowd correct me.
Nights like Tallahassee, Fla.; Greenville; S.C., Huntington, W.Va.;
or Madison, Wis. The crowd was so loud at Rupp Arena in Lexington,
Ky., I stopped my show to give my band a high five 'cause their dream
was coming true, too. That was the turning point, the night I felt
something magic happen – the night we knew we were headliners, for
sure.

Our tour's first leg was all arenas, but we soon moved to the outdoor
amphitheaters for the summer. While the arena shows were a success,
the outdoor shows were a whole different animal. I felt like I was
starting all over again, battling my insecurities about headlining.

The first weekend calmed my fears.

Read the rest of Kenny's experiences on his No Shoes, No Shirt, No
Problems Tour in his own words in the current (10/29/02) "Newsstand
Issue" on sale now!

Chesney named to People's 10 Sexiest Men List
Kenny Chesney has landed on People magazine's 10 Sexiest Men list,
aside George Clooney, Hugh Grant, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, Harry
Connick Jr. and Ben Affleck. "When I was told they wanted me, I
laughed," Chesney said. "It seemed like just the kind of practical
joke my manager and my publicist would pull on me. But then they got
very insistent about getting this photo session schedule -- and I
knew. It's not really something you think about, because, you know,
how do you even deal with something like that?" 11/21/02

Margaritas 'n' Senoritas Tour Info Released
12-2-02
Nashville: Grossing just over $24 million and playing to over 1.8
million fans with his No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems tour, triple-
platinum country star Kenny Chesney kicks off his
Margaritas'n'Senoritas tour Jan. 16th in Tupelo, Mississippi. With
added emphasis on his Country Music Association Album of the Year
nominated No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems -- which debuted at #1 on
Billboard's all-genre Top 200 chart -- is keeping the focus on the
fun-loving attitude and reflective music that his fans have come to
expect from him.

"There's going to be a lot more music -- and more fun, even more of a
have-a-good-time and a party-with-us kinda night," says the solid
baritone, recently hailed as one of "the Sexiest Men Alive" by People
Magazine. "There's more lights, more video.and the stage is going to
be very clean, almost a bit empty -- that way everybody's got plenty
of room to move."

With video screens unlike anything that's been mounted in country
music to date, Chesney had to enlist the company providing production
support to the Rolling Stones on their 40 Licks Tour to create what
he'd envisioned. And it all comes together for production rehearsals
the last part of
December to gear up for what will be easily the emergent superstar's
biggest tour.

"We're going to do all the hits, but we're going to add in a bunch
more songs from No Shoes," promises the Luttrell, Tennesean. "The
fans have let us know which songs they love and want to hear, so
we're adding them in. And we've gone out and shot some special
footage for the video screens this year, as well, making this show
even more personal and closer to home."

Joining Chesney for the first leg of Margaritas'n'Senoritas will be
2000 CMA Duo of the Year Montgomery Gentry and 2003 American Music
Award Favorite New Country Artist Kellie Coffey, making it a show for
every aspect of the always athletic showman's very diverse fan-base.

With his Greatest Hits just surpassing the triple platinum -- for
sales of over 3 million -- and No Shoes nearing double platinum,
Billboard's longest-running #1 with 7 weeks at the top of the chart
with "The Good Stuff," his first major Country Music Assocation
Awards nominations for Entertainer, Male Vocalist and Album of the
Year and picking up the fan-voted CMT: Flameworthy Awards for Male
Artist and their big prize Video of the Year, Chesney has had quite a
year. But that only makes him want to set the bar higher.

Even the press noticed with multiple appearances in USA Today,People
and The Tennessean, as well as The Los Angeles Times, The New York
Times, TV Guide, Us, Blender and The Boston Globe. The Hollywood
Reporter raved,"Kenny Chesney knows his audience" and Rolling Stone
offered, "Chesney delivers real feeling," while Entertainment Weekly
proffered "Country veteran Kenny Chesney hits commercial paydirt by
mining the genre's haunted roots."

Look for a sneak peak of the Margaritas'n'Senoritas Tour as Chesney
again headlines Nashville's Gaylord Arena where he will ring out the
old and definitely roar in with the new. With over 7400 tickets sold
in just under two hours, the American Music Awards nominee is looking
at a complete and total sell-out momentarily.

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems Double Platinum!
12/05/2002

Shortly after Kenny's Greatest Hits hit the triple platinum mark, his
recent No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems has been certified double
platinum. "I don't know what all else Santa can bring me at this
point," said Kenny. "The double and triple platinum, the success of
the tour, New Year's Eve being sold out, the CMT Flameworthies, the
three CMA nominations, especially Entertainer, all those faces that
we got to play to this year. It just gets to a point where you don't
even know where to look or what to say." Congratulations, Kenny!

Kenny Chesney is Gross, Grosser, Grossest!
12-22-02
"No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" Is Billboard's Highest Grossing
Country Tour

Nashville: The tabulations have been done. The money counted. The
comps deducted. And after much clamoring and claim-making, the dust
has settled in Billboard's Dec. 28th issue - sister publication to
concert industry trade Amusement Business -- their year end wrap-up
names Kenny Chesney's No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems the highest
grossing country tour of 2002.

Shaking his head, the reluctant sex symbol smiles and admits, "When
we started this tour, all I wanted was the have enough people show up
so we could go back and play all these places that my heroes had
played when I was growing up. I'd never headlined before, so I just
wanted to not embarrass myself, do enough business that we could keep
growing it! Obviously we did a little better than I'd hoped.

"What an amazing way to break for Christmas... the fans couldn't have
given me a better present."

Having played to over 1.8 million fans and grossing over $24 million,
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems set attendance records in several
venues -- and even found crazed fans cutting the fences around
Raleigh, North Carolina's All-Tel Center to gain admittance to the
show. With spontaneous parking lot parties popping up in most
markets, the laidback singer/songwriter is becoming as much a
reflection of how teens, 20- and 30-somethings live their life as he
is the proud owner of Billboard's Country Song of the Year: the seven
week #1 "The Good Stuff."

"When we realized there were people partying in the parking lot
before the shows, we used to try to figure out how to sneak out there
with a pitcher of margaritas and hang with 'em," says one of People's
recently tapped "Sexiest Men Alive" of the touring protocol. "You
can't always do it 'cause it can be a security hassle, but that
hanging with your friends, laughing and getting into itâ€¦ that's a
lot of what drew me to artists like Jimmy Buffett and Willie Nelson
in the first place."

Connecting with the fans seems to be something the Luttrell,
Tennessean was born to do. His New Year's Eve show at Nashville's
Gaylord Arena was their first ever pre-show sell-out and he watched
his Greatest Hits turned triple platinum as his #1 debut on
Billboard's all-genre Top 200 sales chart "No Shoes, No Shirt, No
Problems" just topped double platinum. Hailed by Rolling Stone, The
New York and Los Angeles Time, Blender, People, The Washington Post
and The Boston Globe among others, it all comes down to one thing:
making the kind of music the people he knows will relate to.

"Find great songs. Work hard on your show. Refuse to give up,"
Chesney says of what little masterplan he's honed over the journey to
nominations in the three most prestigious CMA Awards categories:
Entertainer, Male Vocalist and Album of the Year. "But always,
always, always remember the way music struck you -- and give back at
least as much as you took away. If I can mean that for somebody else,
then I've done my job."

Chesney will be in New York City Jan 7 to announce this year's Grammy
nominees, then jet to Los Angeles where he'll peform "Young" on the
American Music Awards Jan. 13 -- where he's nominated for Favorite
Country Album of the Year for No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems. He
then bounces to Tupelo, MS to kick off the body the
Margaritas'n'Senoritas Tour on Jan. 16.

12/22/2002
[www.kennychesney.com]

Chesney's House Hit By Lightening

Kenny Chesney wrapped up his top-grossing No Shoes, No Shirt, No
Problems tour and returned home to find his house had been struck by
lightning during a recent storm. "Every electrical thing in my house
is fried," said Chesney. "Everything. My big screen TV. My really
great sound system, which was my present to myself when I moved into
the house. My computer. The lights on the outside. It's all blinking
and a complete mess."
Chesney says he feel fortunate, however, that the house and
everything in it, particularly pictures and mementos, are all intact,
including his bed. "As long as I've been gone, and as many tour dates
as I've still got, I'm gonna sleep in my bed, no matter what," said
Chesney.

The singer is currently having the house completely rewired, and is
thankful that nothing worse happened. "The good news is nobody got
hurt. The house is basically okay, and everything that got fried is
replaceable. I'm just glad nothing more serious happened. Something
like this really helps you keep everything in perspective."

Chesney's career eighth Number One hit, "The Good Stuff," currently
tops the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart

Coming home to roost

ROBERT DEUTSCH
Photographed at his Nashville home, Kenny Chesney has risen from much-
maligned mid-level act to an A-list country music performer.
By PETER COOPER
Staff Writer

''What do you call it, an epiphany?'' That's Kenny Chesney asking the
question. He's sitting in a booth at Nashville's Granite Falls
restaurant, baseball cap on, looking at least 10 years younger than
his true age of 34.

''I was laying in bed and thought, 'You've got to make it better:
your career and yourself.' I thought, 'I need to live my life
different.' Something clicked, and all of a sudden, the albums I was
making weren't good enough anymore and the shows I was doing weren't
good enough anymore.''

Sounds like an epiphany.

To hear Chesney tell it, thus began his rise from much-derided mid-
level country act to multi-platinum star. Tonight at the 36th annual
Country Music Association awards show, Chesney will vie for the
coveted entertainer of the year designation, as well as for male
vocalist and best album awards.

His inaugural headlining tour grossed a robust $22 million in six
months and marked Chesney as an arena-filling draw. His No Shoes, No
Shirt, No Problems album has spawned No. 1 hits Young and The Good
Stuff. For much of the past summer, Chesney had two albums on the
Billboard Top 5 country charts: No Shoes and a Greatest Hits effort.

The guy is a big deal now, and he knows it, and he's proud of it. He
also knows that a large contingent of Nashville ''insiders'' can't
understand how on earth he did it.

''A lot of people around town don't know why this is happening,''
Chesney says, picking at his salmon. Make no mistake, Kenny Chesney
will eat some salmon. He eats it (or skinless chicken) six days a
week and works out like an athlete, saving Sunday as his one splurge
day.

''It's fun to bring people from Nashville out to see our show in
other places, and they see 20,000 people going crazy and they
think, 'How in the hell is this happening?' '' Chesney
continues. ''They say, 'I didn't know. I didn't realize.' ''

The thing is, Chesney once would have run away with a ''Least likely
to succeed in country music'' prize. Here's a short dude with a not-
so-commanding voice and a balding pate (That's not a put-down, as
Chesney will joke about this stuff himself). For years, Chesney was
something of a punch-line among Nashville's so-called taste-makers,
and his success with the novelty song She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy
made him seem groan-worthy among those who'd rather their music
heroes be noble and serious-minded.

''For awhile there, nobody took him seriously,'' said publicist Mike
Hyland, who met Chesney while doing PR work for Acuff-Rose, the
publishing house that signed Chesney to his first songwriting deal, a
decade ago. ''But he and his management team focused in on the fans,
rather than on the industry. His handlers were saying, 'Forget what
Nashville thinks. Do what you do.' And he's huge now.''

Most of Nashville only noticed what Chesney didn't have. But what he
did — and does — have, in spades, are qualities that Music Row prizes
but has yet to figure out how to manufacture: sincerity and
magnetism. Combine those elusive traits with an indefatigable work
ethic and the aforementioned epiphany and you have the potential for
a certified, salmon-eating smash.

Chesney doesn't particularly blame those who didn't at first see that
potential. He arrived in Nashville with his own insecurities about
his talent.

''When I came to town (in the early 1990s), I was really
intimidated,'' he says. ''I remember going to Douglas Corner one
night when I heard Buddy Cannon, Dean Dillon and some other people
play in the round. I sat and listened to those guys and I thought, 'I
don't know if I can do this.'

''My friends I went to high school with, when I came to Nashville
they all got jobs at credit unions,'' he says. ''I think they and my
family decided music was something I'd try and that I'd get out of my
system and be at peace with myself. In college, I got a degree in
advertising and marketing. If I'd gone back home, I guess I'd have
been a bad advertising salesman or something.''

A $150 per week songwriting gig led to demo singing, which led to a
shot as an artist on Capricorn Records, which led to a deal with the
RCA Label Group's BNA Records label. Chesney's first two albums were
middling successes, but 1996's Me and You contained the career-saving
hit, When I Close My Eyes. Previously ''scared to death'' that he'd
be dropped from the label roster, the song bought him some more time.

The following year brought the Alcoholics Anonymous ballad That's Why
I'm Here, a poignant song that might have won more industry insiders
over to Chesney's cause had it not been accompanied by a silly video
(There was Kenny, splayed out on a bathroom floor, looking as if he
was about to puke while urinals loomed in the background).

1999's Everywhere We Go album featured a fine, Chesney-penned duet
with Randy Travis called Baptism, but it was She Thinks My Tractor's
Sexy that the uninitiated remembered. Suddenly, Chesney was
the ''sexy tractor guy,'' in the same way that Billy Ray Cyrus had
been the Achy Breaky guy. In such cases, big hits can rob a budding
artist of respect.

By the time Chesney was arrested with buddy Tim McGraw in 2000 for
riding a policeman's horse backstage at an outdoor concert near
Buffalo, N.Y. (both performers were acquitted of charges), Chesney
was a million-selling punching bag. Over and over, he was passed over
by the industry at awards time, never notching a CMA win.

''Was Kenny's industry fight harder than what other artists go
through? Yes,'' said Holly Gleason, now Chesney's publicist. ''In
town, the die got cast on him very early.''

Even as his in-town image suffered, Chesney's hard work on the road
was paying off in the form of an extended audience. Each album sold
better than the previous one, and some smart touring strategies paid
off as well. In concert, Chesney found a way to connect. Greatest
Hits underscored his radio successes, and his tour with McGraw found
more fans opening their hearts and wallets to Kenny Chesney.

Somewhere amidst the horse ride hoo-ha came Chesney's epiphany, and
good radio songs weren't good enough anymore. Heartache resulting
from a busted love affair helped him to reevaluate his personal life,
and Chesney went from working tirelessly toward country notoriety to
working tirelessly toward something more like excellence. Released in
April 2002, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems earned critical plaudits
on the way to selling more copies (1.5 million) in a shorter period
of time (six months) than any previous effort.

Like Billy Ray Cyrus, Chesney followed his novelty hit with something
deeper and truer. Unlike with Cyrus, the new, improved Chesney proved
more commercially viable than the cartoonishly imaged predecessor.
Even the single A Lot of Things Different, a solidly traditional half-
recitation that flies in the face of most radio-ready country, is
climbing the charts.

''I think that may be the deepest song, lyrically and emotionally,
that I've ever recorded,'' he says. ''It makes people think about
their lives and the way they're living, and because it does that I
think it's commercial.''

To critics, the jump from Tractor to A Lot of Things Different seemed
something like quarterback Kurt Warner's jump from minor-league
football to leading the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl championship.
Fans, however, were less worried about three-star reviews than about
the good-time concerts that Chesney delivered as he moved from
supporting act to arena and amphitheater-filling headliner.

''A record company can hype an act, but they can't make fans out
there go back to the dorm rooms and tell their friends, 'You've got
to see Kenny Chesney's show,''' Chesney says.

In the past six months, no country artist has played before more fans
than Chesney has. His crowds are loud, young and not solely in love
with country music. Chesney figures many of his followers also attend
shows by Kid Rock and Aerosmith, and his in-concert covers of rock
songs are as well-received as his version of Conway Twitty's I'd Love
To Lay You Down.

His flexing, preening stage persona is not for everyone, but he
prides himself on identifying and satisfying his people. Although
he's pleased that his three CMA nominations indicate that the
Nashville glitterati have begun to accept him, fan reaction remains
more important to Chesney than awards night glories.

''Anybody that says they don't want to win is lying,'' he says,
finishing a meal and preparing to head to a photo shoot. ''But I
think I've made a difference in a lot of people's lives, other than
the kind of people that vote for the CMAs. I heard the roar of the
crowd and saw the eyes of the kids, and in a way that makes you a
winner. Deep down, everybody wants to feel that roar right down in
their chest.''

No matter where he prioritizes critical favor and industry support,
it's clear that Nashville is beginning to appreciate an artist who
once was best-loved outside the Davidson County lines.

''In an attempt to close the gap between the fans and the industry,
(RCA Label Group chief) Joe Galante worked hard to get Nashville
people to see Kenny in concert and to hear his music,'' Gleason
said. ''A special mailing was done to get No Shoes in people's hands.
Somebody — an industry insider — said to me, 'When I listened I was
shocked at how good it was. I was actually ashamed of myself for some
of the things I've said about him and his music.' ''

So what do you call that, an epiphany?

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