Photo: Danny Clinch
Kenny Chesney will offer a glimpse into his life story in a new way later this year.
Chesney announced on Thursday morning (February 6) that he plans to release a book for the first time, though he said releasing a book is one thing he thought he'd “never” do. The “I Go Back” artist chronicles his journey from growing up in East Tennessee, to launching his career as a country artist and becoming one of the genre’s most well-known megastars. Chesney is an eight-time Entertainer of the Year, and has been selling out stadiums since the early 2000s. He describes of his upcoming book, written with journalist and longtime friend and collaborator Holly Gleason:
“Heart Life Music shares the stories of a kid from small town East Tennessee with a dream fueled by the sports and music around him. When high school football came to an end, he knew there must be something more. In college, Kenny Chesney found himself on a barstool with a guitar and an unexpected connection between people, life and songs. His heart caught fire. With Nashville’s vibrant creative scene, characters, legends and places now long gone from the city he countered in those early days, Chesney explores the quest to find himself as an artist and a man, as well as a sense of home anywhere there’s an ocean. These are the stories of the unlikely game changer who became the sound of coming of age in the 21st century, made friends with his heroes, rocked stadiums, and founded a No Shoes Nation.”
“This is not my memoir,” Chesney said in a statement, “but something far better. It is almost a love letter to people who shaped and inspired me, the fans who’ve been there from tiny bars, radio stations who believed when nobody else did, a team who just kept coming back, legends who gave me wisdom and opportunities and all the friends who’ve been there along the way. To me, that’s where the music came from – and this is the story of how it turned into the soundtrack for the way No Shoes Nation lives their lives, too.
“I always said I’d never write a book,” he continued. “Too many things happened almost to be believed, let alone lived, but I realized with the world moving in such fast forward motion, too much of what made Nashville, the music business and our lives great would be lost to the churn of the next click. To have been in a room as a kid writing with Dean Dillon, have Sean Payton call an NFL press conference to announce he’s drafting me to the Saints, be in Tuff Gong Studios with Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett and Alvin ‘Seeco’ Patterson or on a private plane with George Jones after opening for him defies logic. So, for everyone in No Shoes Nation, I realized: you deserved to share the magic.”
Chesney’s announcement about the autobiographical project arrives shortly after her announced his first Vegas residency. He extended Kenny Chesney LIVE at Sphere in Las Vegas because of “overwhelming demand.” The 15-show run will kick off on Thursday, May 22, and will continue through Saturday, June 21.
Chesney spoke about Heart Life Music in an interview on CBS Mornings on Thursday, describing the book as a series of “very intimate postcards, if you will, of my life in this business, on the road, in the islands,” rather than a memoir. Heart Life Music is due to arrive on November 4.
Kenny Chesney Live at Sphere Las Vegas
Thursday, May 22
Saturday, May 24
Sunday, May 25
Wednesday, May 28
Friday, May 30
Saturday, May 31
Wednesday, June 4
Friday, June 6
Saturday, June 7
Wednesday, June 11
Friday, June 13
Saturday, June 14
Wednesday, June 18
Friday, June 20
Saturday, June 21