Kenny Chesney Biography
Blessed with a voice that sounds older than his years, Kenny Chesney is a country vocalist in the hard-core country style. Heavily influenced by such classical stylists as Merle Haggard and George "the Possum" Jones, he has also drawn on the country rock of Charlie Daniels and his band. Through Chesney’s talent and his dogged persistence in the face of a first recording contract that didn’t pan out, the singles off his more recent albums for BNA have consistently charted in the top ten. "I want a 20-year career, not just a few records that go gold and then are gone," Chesney told Michael A. Capozzoli Jr. in Country Weekly. Since the singer/songwriter first hit the streets of Nashville in 1991, he has shown that he has what it takes to make that wish a reality.
Chesney was born March 26, 1968, in Lutrelle, a small town near Knoxville, Tennessee, that is famous as the birthplace of guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins. As a boy he listened to country and bluegrass music along with his friends, but his own dreams were of becoming a star athlete---maybe a baseball player---rather than a country singer. By the time he reached high school, his family had moved to Knoxville, and Chesney became serious about football. He also had his first flirtation with music: he and a friend joined the local choir and were inspired by the choir director's enthusiasm for melody and vocal harmony.
In 1986, after graduating from high school, Chesney enrolled at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, where he decided to pursue a degree in business. Then, on Christmas Day of his sophomore year, he received a guitar as a gift. With his earlier enthusiasm for music renewed, Chesney learned enough chords to work out the Eagles’ "Tequila Sunrise." "I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do," the singer told Linda Burchfield in Country Song Roundup. "Until I got my first guitar, and then I was hooked." Pretty soon he was entertaining his friends with his singing and was writing his own songs as well. Encouraged by his roommates, he got a gig at a small restaurant near campus, but was disappointed by the lack of response from the restaurant’s rowdy Saturday night student crowd. However, Chesney didn’t give up; he continued to play at small restaurants and clubs near campus. Eventually he rented some studio time at Classic Recording in Bristol, Virginia, and laid down an album’s worth of self-penned tracks. Sales of tapes at his shows were so successful that Chesney was soon able to buy himself a brand-new Martin guitar with the profits.
Chesney was born March 26, 1968, in Lutrelle, a small town near Knoxville, Tennessee, that is famous as the birthplace of guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins. As a boy he listened to country and bluegrass music along with his friends, but his own dreams were of becoming a star athlete---maybe a baseball player---rather than a country singer. By the time he reached high school, his family had moved to Knoxville, and Chesney became serious about football. He also had his first flirtation with music: he and a friend joined the local choir and were inspired by the choir director's enthusiasm for melody and vocal harmony.
In 1986, after graduating from high school, Chesney enrolled at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, where he decided to pursue a degree in business. Then, on Christmas Day of his sophomore year, he received a guitar as a gift. With his earlier enthusiasm for music renewed, Chesney learned enough chords to work out the Eagles’ "Tequila Sunrise." "I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do," the singer told Linda Burchfield in Country Song Roundup. "Until I got my first guitar, and then I was hooked." Pretty soon he was entertaining his friends with his singing and was writing his own songs as well. Encouraged by his roommates, he got a gig at a small restaurant near campus, but was disappointed by the lack of response from the restaurant’s rowdy Saturday night student crowd. However, Chesney didn’t give up; he continued to play at small restaurants and clubs near campus. Eventually he rented some studio time at Classic Recording in Bristol, Virginia, and laid down an album’s worth of self-penned tracks. Sales of tapes at his shows were so successful that Chesney was soon able to buy himself a brand-new Martin guitar with the profits.
Profile
Born on March 26, 1968, in Lutrelle, TN; married Renee Zellweger (an actress), 2005.
Education: Eastern Tennessee State University, B.S. in marketing, 1991.
Education: Eastern Tennessee State University, B.S. in marketing, 1991.
Contact Information
Address: Record company--BNA Entertainment, 1 Music Circle North, Nashville, TN 37203
Website: http://www.kennychesney.com
Website: http://www.kennychesney.com
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