Tickets go on sale to the general public this morning (Saturday, February 14th) for four Kenny Chesney shows. Below are the shows and the TicketMaster purchase links:
<span name=”KonaFilter”>Billboard just released their annual “Music Moneymaker List” and Kenny Chesney came in at number six with $90,823,990 in earnings in 2008. That made him the top earning country music artist.
Number one on the list was Madonna with $242.2 million.
Here’s the top 10:
Madonna – $242.2 million
Bon Jovi – $157.2 million
Bruce Springsteen – $156.3 million
The Police – $110 million
Celine Dion – $99.2 million
Kenny Chesney – $90.8 million
Neil Diamond – $82.2 million
Rascal Flatts – $63.5 million
Jonas Brothers – $62.6 million
Coldplay – $62.2 million
The numbers take into account sales from touring, albums, digital tracks and ringtones.
Kenny Chesney’s latest single, “Down The Road” with Mac McAnally, is only one position away from the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles Chart. “DTR” moved into the second position this week after being at #3 last week. It’s the 16th week on the chart.
Dierks Bentley sits atop the chart for the second week with “Feel That Fire”.
You can preview “Down The Road” and download it in MP3 format below:
In an interview with Playboy magazine, Kenny Chesney dispels the rumors that he’s gay:
Kenny Chesney tells Playboy magazine that he’s definitely not gay and has well over 100 women who could attest to that.
[snip]
The fraud claim fueled speculation that he is gay.
“What guy who loves girls wouldn’t be angry about that …? I didn’t sign up for that. I think people need to live their lives the way they want to, but I’m pretty confident in the fact that I love girls (laughs). I’ve got a long line of girls who could testify that I am not gay.”
Chesney also talked in the interview about the marriage and annulment from Renee Zellweger:
In the Q&A interview, the singer also discusses his 2005 marriage to actress Renee Zellweger, which was annulled after four months.
He said he “didn’t have any clue as to what true marriage meant. I was so used to committing to one thing — music — and then I had to totally commit to a second thing, marriage. I didn’t know how to commit to both of them.”
He also told the magazine that the paparazzi and attention became too intense. “I mean, I panicked, there’s no doubt about it. I just totally panicked,” he said, adding that he did “the only thing I knew to do: I ran. I pushed her away.”
Chesney said he called for an end to the marriage, but she filed the annulment papers. “It was a pretty mutual thing, to be honest with you,” he said.
After the breakup, he was depressed and didn’t leave the house or get out of bed for a week. He said he spoke with Zellweger on the phone briefly about a year ago but admits, “I still think about her every day. Every day I wonder if she’s OK.”
To have the marriage annulled, Chesney said the legal papers could claim either physical abuse, mental abuse or three or four other things that weren’t true.
“The best thing we could put in there was fraud. So I said ‘All right, do it. Whatever,’” he recalled.
The Academy of Country Music announced their nominations today for the 44th annual ACM Awards and Kenny Chesney garnered four nominations:
Entertainer Of The Year
Top Male Vocalist
Vocal Event Of The Year for “Down The Road” (as an artist)
Vocal Event Of The Year for “Down The Road” (as a producer)
Entertainer of the Year will once again be decided by fan vote, and if Kenny wins again this year it will be his fifth consecutive EOTY award, which would tie him with Alabama for most consecutive wins in the category.
Brad Paisley leads with 6 nominations and Heidi Newfield received 5 nominations.
05.03.09 – Houston, TX – CWM Pavilion (On sale at Noon CST)
06.06.09 – Pittsburgh, PA – Heinz Field (On sale at Noon EST)
07.03.09 – Milwaukee, WI – Summerfest (On sale at Noon CST)
07.29.09 – Lake Tahoe, NV – Harrah’s Lake Tahoe (On sale at Noon PST)
08.06.09 – Orange Beach, AL – Wharf Amphitheater (ON sale at Noon CST)
Also today at 10 am PST, tickets go on sale to the July 29th show at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe, NV via TicketMaster presale. The presale password is CARNIVAL.
Beginning Wednesday, tickets go on sale for the same five shows via TicketMaster presales:
The 51st annual Grammy Awards were held Sunday night, and Kenny Chesney was nominated for his first ever Grammy award but did not win. Kenny and George Strait were nominated in the category Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for their duet “Shiftwork”. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss took home the award for their duet “Killing The Blues.”
Chesney performed during the show, also a Grammy First for him. He sang an intimate version of “Better As A Memory”.
Update: View photos from Kenny’s Grammy performance in our Photo Gallery.
The Academy of Country Music 
