Kenny Chesney is opening up about his new book, HEART*LIFE*MUSIC, out on November 4. Chesney has spent 30 years in country music, waiting until now to tell his story.
“People have asked me a lot why I haven’t written a book yet and honestly, why now,” Chesney shares on TalkShopLive. “And I guess my answer to that is, it’s a pretty incredible story really. If I think about the kid that grew up in East Tennessee, I lived way out in the country. I used to go out and lay in my grandmother’s backyard. We lived so far out of Knoxville that you could look up at the stars at night and you wouldn’t see any light pollution from any city anywhere. So, it was just beautiful, and I used to go out there as a kid and lay there.”
Those nights of looking at the night sky became a pivotal starting point for the superstar career he has now, even though Chesney couldn’t have known it at the time.
“I was, I guess, born a dreamer and a seeker, and always wondered what was past my county line,” Chesney reflects. “I remember going out and lying on my back in the backyard of my grandmother’s, at my grandmother’s house. And just staring at the stars, and wondering if there was anything out there, at all.
“And one of the storylines of this book is someone that was very curious as a child, and someone that really had music in his life,” he adds. “And thought there might be something in my life that involved music, but had no idea what that meant or where it was gonna lead me.”
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More than successful book sales, Chesney hopes that HEART*LIFE*MUSIC serves as an inspiration to others, especially others who also have big dreams they want to achieve.
“If there’s anybody out there that has a dream in their heart, or in their head, and they’re scared to take those steps to chase it, this book, and my journey is proof that it could happen,” Chesney says. “It’s not going to be given to you. You have to work really hard, and you have to give. Nothing is for free. Nothing. In a society where we all want instant gratification and validation, I think that things that last are things that you truly work hard for. And there’s a lot of those lessons in this book.”
Chesney’s HEART*LIFE*MUSIC might be about all he has already done, but he isn’t finished yet. The 57-year-old just announced he is returning to continue his Live at Sphere Las Vegas residency next summer.
“We’ve been invited back for next summer, summer of ’26, and we’re coming,” Chesney reveals. “If you guys come, we’ll come. So thank you very much. We’ll see you next summer here at Sphere.”
Chesney will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later this year. HEART*LIFE*MUSIC will be out on November 4. Pre-order the book, and find all of Chesney’s music and upcoming shows, at KennyChesney.com.
Photo Credit: Danny Clinch