When Kenny Chesney sang “Til It’s Gone” during the live telecast of the first AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS on FOX, the Top 5 hit was delivered not as a love song to a paramour, but as an invitation and celebration to everyone who’s loved the East Tennessean’s music. On hand was good friend Vince Vaughn who presented the eight-time Entertainer of the Year the Groundbreaker Award in recognition of the places and people Chesney has brought his music to.
As Vaughn told the sold out audience in Nashville’s Music City Center,
“Few artists have single-handedly elevated country music to new heights. They are the groundbreakers. They are the artists who will never be forgotten. In stadiums and arenas all over America, Kenny’s been a game-changer in live music. Tour after tour, album after album, great song after great song, Kenny Chesney continues to thrill county fans and break ground as only he can.”
For Chesney, visibly moved by the award, it was a moment to reflect upon the miles traveled, memories made and people rocked. Acknowledging that God gave him a song – and that song took him places he could never have imagined, he haltingly offered,
“So many of you fans out there tonight, here in this room and out there watching on TV… have allowed me to literally hold your lives in my hand through my music and the songs we’ve all shared over the years. I take that responsibility seriously, and I thank you for caring about the music.”
Having taken 2014 off the road to focus on making The Big Revival, his 13th Billboard Top Country Albums debut, Chesney will be mounting his most wide-sweeping tour in 2015. Fueled by the two-week, Grammy nominated #1 “American Kids” and “Til It’s Gone,” as well as the viral “Flora-Bama,” The Big Revival is slated for 17 stadiums, a few key festivals and almost 40 arenas and amphitheaters. For the man who sold out two shows in Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium in 12 minutes and gone clean at several other stadiums, it’s looking to be a pretty wild summer.
“I’ve missed hearing the fans singing these songs back to me,” Chesney says. “You know, watching that package before we played really reminded me how powerful the relationship with my audience is. You inspire me. You drive me. And especially, you feed me. These songs are my life, but ultimately, they’re all your’s, and I’m honored to be part of your world…”
With rehearsals beginning after the new year, look for a changed up set, a great big stage and a band that’s spent a year off the road – and are looking to make some music. More onsales will be announced after the holidays, but until then, there’s The Big Revival, an album Billboard wrote “captures the zeitgeist of American youth in a way John Mellencamp once owned,” and “Christmas In Blue Chair Bay,” a seasonal single that’s been shipped to country radio.
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