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FRIENDS
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 Kenny Chesney’s life is “real enough”, so don’t expect to see him on reality TV or even acting on the big screen:
My life’s real enough, you know? I don’t think so. I really don’t. I just don’t think that I would. I would rather concentrate on tryin’ to connect with fans in the audience and tryin’ to write a great song and cut great music, and that takes up a lot of time, to be honest with you. I don’t think you’ll ever see me do that.”
Kenny adds that he lacks the desire — and the talent — to act. “I’ve even had a lot of people ask me if I want to act. I’m never sayin’ never, but it’s not something I wake up everyday wanting to do, and so I don’t think I’d ever take a year off to go do a movie or something. I wouldn’t be that good at it anyway. I think I realized doin’ the ‘You Save Me’ video where it took us three days to shoot three minutes of an opening of a video. I realized right then I wanted my day job back — that I was never gonna have the patience to act (laughs).” .)
(h/t to Bonnie for passing this along)
 USA Today is out with their list of the top tours of 2009 and Kenny Chesney is tops in not just country, but in all genres:
“You know,” says Kenny of the honor, “to me, it’s about rocking the fans… and I never want to have a ticket price that keeps the people who buy my records or listen to my songs in their truck from coming out and partying with us. If I can make sure there are always seats people can afford – and even try to keep the best seats where they’re reasonable for what they are – then I feel like I can keep having the party of the summer when I go out. Again, to me, it’s about that moment and having fun with your buddies.
“And when you look at some of the other names on that list, well, I’m blown away… cause those are some great shows, too! I know – I’ve been out to see a few of them when we were off, and to be in company with Elton John – who’s out with Billy Joel –, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen or my friend Dave Matthews, it makes you extra grateful that people chose to make you a part of their summer.”
Billboard’s Touring Editor Ray Waddell noted that for seven straight years, Kenny’s sold above a million tickets sales. Even on his shortest tour to date and charging the lowest ticket prices of any major headliner, he was also the only act on the list to play NFL Stadiums across the nation.
“I don’t think anyone sets up their concert schedule or their ticket prices thinking, ‘I’m gonna be the biggest tour on the road,” Kenny says. “But these are the moments that confirm what I already know: I have the best, wildest, most committed fans any artist could ever hope for. I like to think I live their lives with’em through my songs, and they’ve made my last 8 summers the best of a very, very good life by coming out to the shows they way they do.”
Read the full article here.
 Country Weekly has a poll up asking who is country music’s sexiest man, and of course Kenny Chesney is one of the choices.
Last year Trace Adkins took home the prize. Let’s push Kenny over the top this year:
Click here to vote!
Voting runs August 31st through September 14th. The results for Country’s Sexiest Man will be published in the October 26th issue of Country Weekly, on sale Oct. 19.
(h/t Katie)
Some controversy has erupted around the internet over a WCVB Boston story reporting that at last weekend’s show in Boston, MA Kenny Chesney confiscated a fan’s camera. One blog went as far as to call Chesney a “prick”.
Susan Mazar said the singer grabbed it while she was at this weekend’s concert in Foxborough.
Mazar said she was in the front row taking pictures, when the singer grabbed the camera from her.
Mazar said she and other fans were stunned when Chesney took the camera.
“(Chesney) was like a person in front of me and he reached down, grabs the camera, shuts it, goes down the walkway and throws it on the stage,” Mazar said.
Mazar said she did get the camera back, but the memory card, loaded with pictures of her family vacation, was missing.
Mazar told NewsCenter 5 that she was taking still pictures only of the show, not video.
Earlier in the tour Kenny was upset with people videotaping him during shows and it appeared that cameras might be banned altogether but this was not the case. Only videotaping is not allowed.
ChesneyWorld received this tweet after the Gillette show:
“I was there when the girl said kenny took her camera & to KC’s defense, she was videotaping the whole show”
Also, Erin from CountryMusicIsLove.com was interviewed by Electric Barnyard and explained that she was about 10 feet from the whole thing and that it was a video camera, not a still camera. Listen to the interview here.
What are your thoughts on this story? Leave a comment to this post or discuss on our forum.
 On Wednesday, Star Magazine “reported” that Jessica Simpson flirted with Kenny Chesney at a 4th of July party and that was part of the reason for Tony Romo breaking off the relationship. Kenny wasted no time in refuting the rumors in an interview with People:
“Tony’s a friend, and I wouldn’t flirt with a buddy’s girlfriend,” Chesney tells PEOPLE. “More importantly, Jessica was just being sweet and there was nothing else to it. It’s not funny. There were no problems. Everybody got along great. After the party, everybody went their own way and nobody thought anything more about it. Period. End of story.”
The party was thrown by Chesney’s friend, Sean Payton, coach of pro football’s New Orleans Saints, Chesney says.
“If a girl and her boyfriend can’t go to someone’s house for a Fourth of July party and talk to the other guests without it turning into a big nightmare … , then I feel really sorry for Jessica and Tony, who’re both really nice people,” Chesney says. “I wonder if I wasn’t famous if anyone would even care. But the fact of the matter is I talked to a bunch of guests, hung out, had a good time.”
 After some fans expressed displeasure on blogs/forums/twitter, etc. about the recent Sugarland concert cancellations, which included Saturday night’s Sun City Carnival Tour stop in San Francisco, Kenny Chesney has issued another statement:
“It was really sad to see the way some people reacted to Jennifer needing to cancel her appearance in San Francisco last weekend — and it seems to me we should all be concerned about her long-term vocal health more than any single show that she may not be able to do.
Naturally, I’m disappointed she’s not out here with us — because she is a friend as well as an act I know the fans enjoy — but I think it’s more important that she have the time to heal properly, rather than forcing herself to try and rush back onstage. I know she’ll be back before the summer and can’t wait to have her back out there. But it’s about doing the right thing and we should all be supporting her in that.”
CMT.com says that Sugarland will not perform at Thursday night’s Salt Lake City show with Chesney.
(hat tip to everyone that passed this along)
 Kenny Chesney’s 2009 Sun City Carnival Tour landed at the number 7 spot on Pollstar’s Midyear Report.
Kenny trails Britney Spears, Fleetwood Mac, Celine Dion, Elton John/Billy Joel, the Eagles and Bruce Springsteen in the rankings. “I know this is a rough summer,” says a grateful Kenny. “It’s why we’ve really tried to keep the prices reasonable and put on a good show. I can’t solve the problems, but maybe I can get you to forget, to laugh, be free and remember how great it feels to be alive”
Chesney was the only country music act to make the Top 10.
(hat tip to Leslie for passing this along)
 Forbes has released its annual list of the top grossing musicians and Kenny Chesney made the list at number five with $65 million in earnings.
Here’s a look at the top 10:
- Madonna – $110 million
- Celine Dion – $100 million
- Beyonce – $87 million
- Bruce Springsteen – $70 million
- Kenny Chesney – $65 million
- Rascal Flatts – $60 million
- Coldplay – $60 million
- AC/DC – $60 million
- The Eagles – $55 million
- Toby Keith – $52 million
In the past 12 months, the top 10 musicians earned a combined $719 million, up from $500 million during the 12-month period ending June 2008, Forbes said.
The average ticket price climbed $5.26, to $67.33, the biggest single-year increase in 15 years. Gross revenue for the top 100 touring acts was up 6.5 percent.
Arena acts now earn about $20 per ticket, compared with only about $1 per CD sold, the magazine said.
Touring acts make additional millions through merchandise sales.
Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune has one of the best articles/interviews on Kenny Chesney in some time: “Kenny Chesney: The making of a franchise in a cowboy hat”
He grew up hustling in Luttrell, Tenn., outside Knoxville, the son of a hairdresser mother and a schoolteacher father. His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother remarried to a construction worker. He describes a humble life that revolved around “friends, family, school, church … and girls.” He was one of 135 students in his 1986 high school graduating class
“We were lower-middle class and everyone I knew was — we didn’t know there was anything different,” he says in his tour bus a few hours before the show. “I have this theory … this is a bit of curveball, but people who are really good kissers never have anything given to them. People who can’t kiss had everything given to them. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m a helluva kisser.”
Do yourself a favor and read the full article here.
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