Megan Moroney is very, very grateful for Kenny Chesney. Moroney got to open for him in 2024, on his Sun Goes Down Tour. And while the experience was great for Moroney and her career, it also made her close with her musical hero.

“Some days, I’ll just wake up and be like, ‘Oh. Kenny Chesney is one of my best friends. Cool,” Moroney tells People.

“[It] was my first stadium tour, and I feel like it really changed my career,” she adds.

Not only did Moroney get to sing for a stadium full of Chesney’s fans, but he also invited her out every night during his set to perform again.

“He let me come do a few songs with him during his set every night and has just been a great mentor for me,” Moroney boasts.

The Story Behind Megan Moroney’s “You Had To Be There” Duet With Kenny Chesney

Last year, Moroney gave Chesney a truly unique gift: a song about her experience touring with Chesney. Moroney wrote “You Had To Be There” for Chesney as a gift. Chesney ultimately sang on the song with her, releasing it as a duet.

“As someone who has everything, including a jet, what do you get him?” Moroney reflects. “I was like, ‘It’s got to be sentimental, because he will appreciate that the most.'”

When Moroney gave her former tour boss the song, she made it clear that he wasn’t expected to sing with her on the song.

“I told him when I gifted it to him that he did not have to do that because I didn’t want him to feel weird, but he loved it,” says Moroney. “I’m just grateful that that song encapsulated the whole summer of last year.”

The song is a gift Chesney says he will cherish forever.

“To care about the friendship that much, to sit down and give me a piece of their heart and a piece of their soul, that we, in turn, together, get to give the world. I think that’s a very special thing,”  Chesney says. “And as far as I know, nobody has ever written a song for me, and if that’s true, I’m really glad that ‘You Had To Be There’ is the first one. I absolutely love it.”

Kenny Chesney Helps Megan Moroney With Her Career

Being friends with Chesney is a gift that keeps on giving. The two were recently nominated for a CMA Award, for Musical Event of the Year, one of six trophies Moroney was nominated for at the recent ceremony.

“I think he had a lot to do with that, just because to his industry friends, he was like, ‘I believe in her. You need to listen to her songwriting,'” Moroney says. “He’s just boosted me up a lot, so I wanted to make sure that that experience was written in a song forever.”

Moroney recently opened up about how everything changed for her when she was given the opportunity to tour with Chesney.

“Kenny Chesney is a great friend, and a great mentor of mine,” Moroney says. “He took me on the Sun Goes Down Tour last summer, and since then, we’ve just become really good friends. I wrote him the song ‘You Had To Be There,’ and that’s what’s nominated for Musical Event. He’s just the best. Before I met Kenny, I was obviously a really big fan, and didn’t know what to expect.

“But Kenny Chesney is exactly the kind of person you think he is,” she remarks. “He’s so kind and generous. And if I needed him right this second, he would pick up and give me whatever advice I needed. So I feel really lucky to have someone who’s on top of the mountain that I’m climbing, and he has a lot of great advice, whether it’s life or career.”

Photo Credit: CMA / Erika Goldring