“I grew up in a very small town, went to a small elementary, then high school - and got to play football as a starter. I skinny dipped and fished in a lake, had my heart broken by my high school girlfriend. I’ve lived like a lot of guys listening to my music live…And I think that’s why people buy my records, because they can relate to the guy singing those songs…and I’m not all that different from them, even now.” Although he claims to be just like everyone else, Kenny Chesney has proven that he has much more determination than most. Although it took longer for Kenny’s career to take off than for some artists, he continued reaching for his goals.

Kenny was born on March 12, 1968 in Knoxville, Tennessee and raised in the nearby town, Luttrell. It was not until he attended college in Johnson City , however, that Kenny developed a love for music while studying marketing at East Tennessee State University . When he received a guitar for Christmas one year, he realized that he enjoyed the instrument and practiced it often. Soon he found himself in a college bluegrass band, writing his own songs and playing at local gigs at Chuckie’s Trading Post and Quarterback’s Barbeque, for tips almost every night. Kenny ended up selling nearly 1,000 copies of his demo album at these shows. Realizing he needed to further his career, Kenny moved to Nashville after he graduated college in 1991.

In Nashville, Kenny played at the run-down honky-tonk, the Turf, in the worst part of the Lower Broadway. "I played five or six nights a week if I could get it, four hours minimum for five dollars an hour and tips…When you’re making music in Music City, it’s all okay.” Although he fit in at the Turf, he would not likely advance his career there and decided to attend an audition with the Opryland Music Group. It was there that he was offered a songwriter’s contract and in 1992, a record contract with Acuff Rose. These arrangements led him into a contract with Capricorn Records. Although they closed their Nashville office a few years later, Kenny released his debut album with Capricorn, In My Wildest Dreams, and stirred interest with his 1994 single, “The Tin Man,” which made it to No. 70 on Billboard’s country singles chart.

Joe Galante later offered Kenny a contract with BNA Records and wanted to buy the masters of his Capricorn album. When Kenny released a second album in 1995, All I Need to Know, his record sales tripled that of his first album. From there, Kenny’s career soared. His 1996 album, Me and You, was certified gold, followed by I Will Stand in 1997as platinum, and Everywhere We Go was certified double platinum in 1999.

However, Kenny gained his greatest audience in 2000. At a fair in New York, Kenny mounted a police officer’s horse, claiming he had permission. When the officer tried to remove him from the horse, country singer Tim McGraw blocked the officer from Kenny. Although they were both acquitted, the publicity brought Kenny plenty of media exposure to release his Greatest Hits album in 2001. Over 3 million copies of the album were sold. In 2002, he released No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems with “The Good Stuff” and “Young” as major country hits.

In 2003, Kenny began a successful tour and created a behind-the-scenes DVD from a concert in Knoxville, Tennessee. By the end of the year, his song, “There Goes My Life” was at the top of the Billboard country singles chart. His success soared as 2004 rolled around when his album, When the Sun Goes Down, won a CMA award and Kenny became the CMA Entertainer of the Year.

Early in 2005, he released Be As You Are: Songs From an Old Blue Chair to express his love for the islands. Kenny completed his extremely successful tour, the Somewhere in the Sun Tour, which was rated the No. 1 ticket-selling tour for the first half of 2005, besting the No. 2 seller, U2, by over 200,000 tickets. To wrap up an already incredible year, Kenny released his next album, The Road and the Radio. To date, the album has been certified triple platinum.

In 2006, Kenny's tour The Road and the Radio, sold 1.3 million concert tickets making it the most attended tour of any genre in North America. He also scored multiple ACM and CMA award nominations. But the highlight of his year came when he again took home the top prize in country music, the CMA Entertainer of the Year Award.

Kenny Chesney's career has been in full swing for the last few years and shows no stopping in 2007. With his new tour, Flip Flop Summer and a new album due out later this year, the hillbilly rock star remains at the top.