Megan Moroney is so grateful for Kenny Chesney. The two became close friends, after Chesney invited Moroney to open up for him on his 2024 Sun Goes Down Tour. Since then, Moroney and Chesney have grown only closer, with the Country Music Hall of Fame member becoming someone she can rely on in all aspects of her life and career.

“Having a mentor like Kenny Chesney has helped me tremendously,” Moroney says on Country Heat Weekly. “There was one instance where I was just really down on myself, and just throwing the biggest pity party of all time. I felt very discouraged and upset. And he literally showed up at my house, and was like, ‘Stop that. … I know who you are. I know what your music is. Stop this. Whatever is going on in your head is lying to you.’ And it snapped me out of it.”

Moroney’s career has skyrocketed in the two years since she joined Chesney on tour, likely in part thanks to the wisdom he imparts to her.

“He just has a lot of knowledge,” Moroney says. “I can always ask him about anything in the industry. And also [is] just a great friend. So having him definitely has helped my confidence. Especially too, I think my onstage confidence really built during that  Sun Goes Down Tour. ‘Cause that first show in Tampa, terrified.”

The Story Behind “You Had To Be There” by Megan Moroney and Kenny Chesney

In 2025, Moroney released “You Had To Be There” with Chesney. Nominated for a CMA Award, Moroney wrote the song as a thank-you gift to Chesney, after the end of the Sun Goes Down Tour. It’s a gift that Chesney was honored to receive.

“We played it like eight times in a row.,” Chesney recalls. “And I couldn’t believe it, because it was a true postcard, if you will, of everything we experienced on the road. The ups, the downs, the Miami trip, all of it. And the thing about it is, I didn’t know Megan when we first started on the road. I went to breakfast one time with her. I felt like, if I’m gonna be on the road with Megan all summer, I need to meet her before the first show. We met, and that was like in February, and I didn’t see her again until April.”

Chesney has had numerous artists open for him over the years, artists he is still close with today. But he admits there is something special about his bond with Moroney.

“It was just little by little, every week,” Chesney says of their friendship. “Megan, along with her whole road crew, we just became really great friends. And you never know if that’s going to happen or not. So when you hear someone that went out on the road with you, that cared so much about it, and cared so much about the experience, and what it meant to them to be up there on stage. But the thing about Megan and her crew, after she got off stage and before she was onstage, they were all on the side of the stage, soaking it all in.”

Moroney’s third studio album, Cloud 9, is out now.

Photo Credit: CMA / Erika Goldring