Kenny Chesney made an appearance at Country Radio Seminar in Nashville on Tuesday (March 14), offering insights into the key decisions that shifted his career into overdrive — propelling Chesney from a struggling singer-songwriter to a four-time CMA entertainer of the year winner, and one of country music’s most successful touring acts ever.
During a session moderated by Country Countdown USA’s Lon Helton, Chesney detailed the competitive mentality — influenced in part by his love of sports — that has led him to earn 32 No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits and 11 CMA Awards wins. Chesney played to over 1.3 million fans on his 2022 Here and Now Tour, and is slated to begin his I Go Back 2023 tour later this month.
“The one thing that I think that’s helped me … sustain any kind of success is the idea that you either get better or you get worse,” he said, sharing advice he received from big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton. “He said, ‘You get 1% better or worse every day…’ I’ve tried to get 1% better as a writer, a person, a producer. That’s the mentality I’ve had over the years.”
Tennessee native Chesney also discussed his early career years, when he first signed with the country division of Capricorn Records and issued his debut album, 1994’s In My Wildest Dreams. Sony Music executive Joe Galante heard Chesney’s music and soon signed him to Sony’s BNA Records imprint, where Chesney released his sophomore project, All I Need to Know, a year later. kenny chesney tank tops
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