Despite selling over a million copies of his latest album, and over a million tickets to his shows this year, Kenny Chesney was not among the nominees for CMA Entertainer of the Year this year. Peter Cooper at The Tennessean breaks it down:

“We’re talking about Kenny (expletive) Chesney,” says Louis Messina, who promotes Chesney’s stadium and arena shows. (And who also promotes the wildly successful Ms. Swift, the only other contemporary country artist who can sell out stadiums with regularity.) “I know I’m biased, but for him to get totally dissed is a crime and a joke. Not even in the top five? What’s the criteria for entertainer of the year?”

According to the Country Music Association, the entertainer award goes to an artist who displays the greatest competence in all aspects of the entertainment field, with consideration given to recorded performance, in-person performance, staging, public acceptance, attitude, leadership and overall contribution to “the Country Music image.”

So, clearly, Chesney does not qualify.

Theories abound as to why Chesney has joined the ranks of Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts and Toby Keith, recording artists who often can be found near the top of sales charts and ticket tallies but are regularly snubbed in the entertainer race.

Some say Chesney should have played a Nashville show to impress industry voters. (Because he’s an unfamiliar commodity?) Some say he lost his place when he took off the summer of 2010 to recharge. (Because this year’s awards should be dependent on last year’s productivity?) Some say he lost out because of inner-industry vote-trading and “block voting,” wherein company bosses instruct all employees to vote for a particular artist. CMA officials have repeatedly said precautions are in place to deter block voting and that precautions are evaluated every year to make sure they’re effective.

Read the full article here.

Forbes is out with their annual list of the top-earning country musicians and Kenny Chesney is once again on the list, coming in at #6 with $30 million:

Last year’s top earner took it easy this year, with only 24 dates in a twelve-month span from 2010 to 2011. Still, Chesney’s concerts gross an average of $1.6 million every night, landing him solidly among the highest-paid country stars. His latest album, Hemingway’s Whiskey, spawned three No. 1 singles and was certified platinum in August of 2011. A radio standby, Chesney raked in an estimated $7.5 million in royalties in 2010.

Chesney topped the list in 2010 and 2009.

Here’s a look at the top 10:

1. Toby Keith – $50 mil
2. Taylor Swift – $45 mil
3. Brad Paisley – $40 mil
4. Tim McGraw – $35 mil
5. Rascal Flatts – $34 mil
6. Kenny Chesney – $30 mil
7. George Strait – $24 mil
8. Alan Jackson – $22 mil
9. Carrie Underwood – $20 mil
10. Sugarland – $18 mil

It appears the outgoing governor of Minnesota and possible 2012 Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is a Kenny Chesney fan:

Tim Pawlenty says he will not make a decision on a presidential run for 2012 until early next year, but he does already have his eyes set on Florida. Pawlenty joked with ABC News’ John Berman that he has aspirations of opening a margarita bar in the state after finishing his term.

“I’m going to open a margarita bar in South Florida and play some Kenny Chesney music,” the governor said.

On Wednesday night, Kenny Chesney went back where he came from… to Gibbs High School in Corryton, Tennessee. Kenny surprised the football team, visiting with them and then screened “The Boys of Fall” documentary.

His secret visit to the Corryton school on Wednesday was all because he wanted to give the current group of players a sneak peak of something very special.

“You all grew up just like us,” Chesney said. “You drive the same road we drove, you obviously played on the same football field we played on and walked through the same halls, so it’s really a special time for me to come here and play you guys this. A game we all love.”

Watch WVLT’s report below:

Parade Magazine has an excellent interview with Kenny Chesney covering a wide range of topics, from football to marriage, having kids, playing at the Super Bowl, how he stays grounded, his new single, and much more.

Here are a couple excerpts:

Last fall, something inside Chesney changed.

“I was standing onstage last year, and I felt like I wanted to be somewhere else. No matter how many people were out there, it all just felt like a blank sheet of paper. You’d think I’d have been happiest in my life playing music in front of 50,000 people at Gillette Stadium. But let me tell you, it’s an odd feeling to feel alone in the spotlight.”

Today, dating is a whole new ballgame.

“The world is a different place now. I mean, if I go out with a girl, there is a possibility that she’s going to get up from the dinner table and go to the bathroom and use Twitter to tell everybody what she’s doing. And the next thing you know, everybody’s got a play-by-play of what you’re having for dinner. That would make anybody uncomfortable.”

The other misconception about Chesney is that he’s not comfortable without his hat.

“When I was 17 or 18, I’d take my helmet off on the field, and I’d see hair in it and go, ‘Good God! What’s going on?.’ It did bother me in college a little bit–going bald–but it doesn’t at all now. What’s ironic about it is that friends of mine in their 30s and 40s are just starting to lose their hair and are freaking out. I went through all that in high school.”

Read more excerpts from the interview here and here.

There is also an accompanying photo shoot that you can view here.

Look for the full interview with Kenny in the Sunday, August 8th issue of Parade, available in your Sunday newspaper.

Forbes is out with their list of the top 100 Celebrities and Kenny Chesney comes in at number 54 with $50 million in earnings, just ahead of fighter Manny Pacquiao and just below author James Patterson.

Chesney continued his reign atop the country music industry by out-touring everyone else. His 2009 tour grossed $71 million and brought in an average of $1.6 million every night, nearly doubling the box office receipts of his closest competitor, Keith Urban. Prominent sponsorships with companies like Corona and MasterCard keep tour costs down, making the tours even more profitable.

Number 54 is a sizable drop from last year when Chesney came in at number 31 with $65 million in earnings. In May, Forbes released their list of top country earners, which Chesney topped.

Number one on the list this year is Oprah Winfrey, followed by Beyonce, James Cameron, Lady Gaga, and Tiger Woods. Other country acts on the list include Taylor Swift (12), Rascal Flatts (62), Toby Keith (67), and Keith Urban (76).

The latest issue of People Magazine has an interview with Kenny Chesney where he talks about the reasons for slowing down this year:

The country superstar spent several weeks this winter in L.A. editing his new concert film Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D, and managed to squeeze in his first-ever Italian vacation.

“We went to Capri, Positano and a little town called Ravello,” Chesney says. “I ate a lot of bread, drank a lot of wine and ate some really good cheese. And it was great. It’s somewhere I’ve wanted to go my whole life, but I never afforded myself the time to do things like that. Now it’s one of my favorite places in the world.”

Though taking the time off “was the hardest decision I’ve ever made,” Chesney says, “I’m so glad I made it. I haven’t felt this content in a long time.”

The drive that had made the singer the biggest North American ticket seller of the past decade had also taken a toll on his personal life. “Someone said ‘You sure do give a lot of your life to this’ and I said, ‘No, this IS my life.’ There’s no room for anything else. And that’s gotta change.”

Step one has been spending more time with the people closest to him. “I’ve been getting reacquainted with people who you shouldn’t have to get reacquainted with: my family,” he says.

Chesney, 42, is also opening himself up to romance. “If I want a relationship, I have to give to it too.”

Not that the singer is racing down the aisle. Although he has been dating Nashville nurse Amy Colley since 2008, “it’s not like I’m taking a year off so I can get married again,” he says. ” ‘Cause that could or couldn’t happen. But I want to put myself in a position to do it if it did happen. I want to put myself in a position to have a relationship in my life.”

He also has more travel on the horizon. “I want to go to places I’ve never been,” he says. “China? The Pyramids?”

“Who knows? I want to go explore,” Chesney says. “I want to taste everything. I want to take a big spoon, dip it in and taste it all.”

People.com also has a video up with some scenes from the photo shoot for the article. Check it out here (scroll down the page to find it).

Rolling Stone released their Music of the Decade issue this week and Kenny Chesney made one of the most prestigious lists, placing 3rd on the Top North American Touring Acts of the Decade list with $434.4 million in ticket sales.

Dave Matthews was first with $529.1 million and Celine Dion was second with $522.1 million.

Chesney came in ahead such heavyweights as the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Madonna, The Eagles, and Elton John.

(h/t to Kathy)

Hollywood hosted the premiere of Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” on Thursday night and Kenny Chesney was in attendance with a handful of other celebrities including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Orlando Bloom and the stars of the film Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

“Invictus” is the true story of how Nelson Mandela and the mostly white South African rugby team won the Rugby World Cup shortly after apartheid had damaged the nation.

Chesney was in town to do voiceovers for his upcoming 3D movie, and described how he wouldn’t normally be able to do something like this because of the demands of planning a tour:

“It’s a powerful story. And you know anything Morgan’s in, he’s going to bring a lot of heart and humanity to the role,” Kenny said in a statement.

“You know, this is the kind of thing I don’t get to do when we’re building one of those tours… and it’s really nice to be able to share this kind of thing with my friends!”

(photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images)