- Country singer, songwriter and musician born in 1968 in Knoxville Tennessee.
- Chesney enjoyed country and rock music as a young boy, and started to think about music as a career while in college. He received a guitar as a Christmas gift, and he taught himself how to play it. He joined a college bluegrass band, and he started writing music, playing at local venues for tips. In 1989, he recorded a demo album and sold copies of it when he performed, eventually selling around 1,000 copies. He bought a new guitar with the money he earned, and after graduation he moved to Nashville in 1991, hoping to make it in country music.
- He performed at several Nashville honky tonks, and became the resident performer at a bar called The Turf. In 1992, Chesney introduced himself to an executive at the performance rights organization BMI, and the executive recommended Chesney to a music publishing group. Chesney auditioned for the group, and he was signed to a songwriter’s contract. The following year, after performing at a songwriter’s showcase, he was signed to a recording contract with an independent label.
- Chesney’s debut album, In My Wildest Dreams, was released in 1994. It didn’t chart since the record label did not promote it, and soon after the album was released, the label shut down its country music division and moved from Nashville to Atlanta. Still, two singles snuck onto the country singles chart and other labels took notice. He was signed to another label, and the All I Need To Know album was released in 1995. It fared better, with two songs reaching the top 10 of the Hot Country Songs chart – Fall In Love and the title track.
- Two more albums over the next two years sold well, eventually reaching platinum certification after his later success in the 00s. He had his first #1 country hit with She’s Got It All in 1997, and three other songs from the albums peaked at #2 on the country chart – Me and You, When I Close My Eyes and That’s Why I’m Here. These albums had a neotraditional sound to them, using steel guitar and fiddle along with his country-classic vocals. He was awarded the Academy of Country Music’s New Male Vocalist of the Year in 1997.
- His big breakthrough came with 1999’s Everywhere We Go album. He transitioned to more of a country pop sound and fans loved it. It was certified double platinum, and its first two singles, How Forever Feels and You Had Me From Hello both topped the country chart. In the 00s, he released six albums that were certified platinum and all topped the Country Albums chart, with No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problems and When the Sun Goes Down reaching 4x platinum and The Road and the Radio certified 3x platinum. He had fourteen #1 singles during the 00s, and another thirteen that reached the top ten of the chart. His most popular songs during the 00s were When the Sun Goes Down, Summertime and Don’t Blink. Several of his hits were collaborations with other artists – When the Sun Goes Down featured Uncle Kracker, Shiftwork featured George Strait and Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven featured The Wailers.
- He continued his success in the 10s, with all six studio albums released during the decade peaking at #1 on the Country Albums chart. Thirteen more singles reached #1 – his biggest hits were Get Along, The Boys of Fall, Somewhere With You, You and Tequila (with Grace Potter on guest vocals), Come Over, American Kids and Setting the World on Fire (a duet with Pink). His early work in the 20s also was successful – his Here and Now album released in 2020 topped the Country Album chart, with the title track topping the Country Airplay chart and reaching #7 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
- His run as a dominant force in country music has lasted over 20 years, but he has not won a Grammy award, though he has been nominated six times. He’s won plenty of other awards – he was chosen as Entertainer of the Year for four years by both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. Chesney ended the 00s decade with #1 songs for a total of 49 weeks, more than any other country artist, and Billboard ranked him as the #11 country artist of the 10s decade.
- Chesney endeared himself to country music fans with his hard working approach to music, as well as his appealing Tennessee twang. His songs spin stories about simple things in life that people can relate to emotionally, like hanging out on a beach somewhere. Here’s the video to one of his best – No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems.