Kenny Chesney

Like Jimmy Buffet and other artists who sell a lifestyle to their fans, Kenny Chesney carved out a sub-culture of beach party country-rock that drew hundreds of thousands of fans. Blending country, rock and island music earned Chesney the moniker of "Hillbilly Rock Star," making him not only a country music icon but also a successful entrepreneur and one of the hardest working musicians of his era. Born Kenneth Arnold Chesney on March 26, 1968 in Knoxville, Chesney was raised in the small town of Luttrell, Tennessee. As a sports star in high school, Chesney spent much of his adolescence on the field playing football and baseball. It wasn't until he attended college at East Tennessee State that he got into music and taught himself to play the guitar, eventually performing in the school's Bluegrass program and playing cover songs in the bars around campus. Having earned a degree in advertising, Chesney was business-savvy and knew how to market himself at a stage when few artists do. He self-financed his own album to sell at local gigs before setting his sights on Nashville. Upon graduating in 1990, he moved to the county music capital and quickly landed a songwriting deal with BMI and Opryland Music Group in 1992. His debut album, In My Wildest Dreams" came out in two years later on the recently-revived southern rock label Capricorn Records, featuring his smooth baritone vocals on more traditional country ballads then his later releases. The album bore two country singles, but shortly after, the label closed down its country division, leaving him without a home. Luckily, he had caught attention of RCA subsidiary BNA Records, and went on to release his breakthrough second album, All I Need to Know, which yielded Top Ten country hits "All I Need To know" and "Fall In Love." 1997 was a year of miletones, with Chesney taking home his first major award by winning the Top New Male Vocalist trophy from the Academy of Country Music and scoring a number one hit with "She's Got It All," which would be the first of many over the next ten years.

After jumping to a major label and racking up radio hits with a more polished sound, Chesney was primed to become a bona fide star. After touring as an opening act on a George Strait festival tour in 1998, he proved his potential to entertain stadium-sized crowds. Chesney's streak of success continued when he took a chance on the novelty song "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," off his first multi-platinum album, Everywhere We Go, in 1999. Chesney kicked off the new decade with a greatest hits album already in hand and continued his momentum with successive platinum and multi-platinum Number One country albums throughout the 2000s. As his sound continued to shift away from pure country, his 2002 album No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems solidified his heartland rock sound and crossover appeal. At this time he was at the height of critical and commercial success, winning numerous awards including Academy of Country Music Top Male Vocalist of the Year (2002) and Entertainer of the Year (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008); Country Music Association nods for Album of the Year (When the Sun Goes Down, 2004) and Entertainer of the Year (2004, 2006, 2007). While he was a household name in country circles, it wasn't until 2005 that Chesney briefly became mainstream tabloid fodder after his quickie marriage to actress Renee Zellweger was annulled just four months after they wed in the Virgin Islands. After his brush with Hollywood, Chesney took the split in stride and continued his musical domination on the charts. Chesney spent the next decade building up his empire-starting with his merchandise business, rum company and touring production. A passionate football fan, he also went on to write and co-direct the ESPN movie "The Boys of Fall" (2010), followed by the ESPN documentary "The Color Orange: The Condredge Holloway Story" (2011). Despite his rigorous touring schedule, Chesney managed to record his 16th studio album, titled The Big Revival, for 2014 release alongside another ESPN project, partnering again with renowned video director Shaun Silva for a documentary about famed college and NFL coach Steve Spurrier titled "The Believer" (2014).