Kenny Chesney has earned his first ever Grammy Nomination with George Strait for their duet “Shiftwork”, which went to number two on the Billboard Country charts this year.

“I’m not gonna say that I gave up or didn’t care about it,” Chesney says, “because this is an award given by your peers in all genres of music… the people who make it. You get to a point where you realize you can’t force it or get them to listen if they’re not there because that’s not how this works, and you just have to accept that. But that said, I’m really honored to finally be nominated.”

Here are the other nominees for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals:

• Killing The Blues – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
• House Of Cash – George Strait & Patty Loveless
• Life In A Northern Town – Sugarland, Jake Owen & Little Big Town
• Let The Wind Chase You – Trisha Yearwood & Keith Urban

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 8th, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on CBS at 8 pm ET/PT.