"To get a sense of how big Kenny Chesney really is, it’s really only
necessary to note that he can take an act like the Zac Brown Band –
capable of headlining multi-night stints at Fenway Park all on their own
– and slot them in as an opener."When Kenny Chesney released his sixth studio album in 2002, entitled "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems", it was not only his first album to reach number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, but it also became his first to reach the top of the Billboard 200 pop album chart. It marked a turning point in a career that from that point on was predominantly associated with summer, sun and the Caribbean.
A stylistic change that he even held on to on the follow-up Christmas album ("All I Want For Christmas Is A Real Good Tan", 2003). A risky gamble as a country artist, that however paid off by a platinum award for over 1 million units sold. The 5x platinum follow-up studio album "When The Sun Goes Down" from 2004 still holds as his commercially most successful album to date. Apart from the title song, it also includes such by now classics as 'There Goes My Life' and 'Anything But Mine'.
20 years later, on August 25, 2024, Kenny Chesney concluded his latest concert tour with the third of three sold-out performances in front of over 180,000 fans at Boston's Gillette Stadium. A tour that, in memory of that particular album, was not only called the Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour, but which also had Uncle Kracker, the original duet partner on 'When The Sun Goes Down' on its roster.
The by now 56-year-old artist no longer needs to rely on special effects for his huge shows. For his fan base, the No Shoes Nation, the focus has long since been the songs, the atmosphere and the shared enthusiasm with the arist on stage. It is a connection that has written countless stories of personal memories and with which Kenny Chesney has filled around 200 stadiums over the last two decades thereby selling over 18 million tickets according to Billboard Boxscore.
"It is a community," he says in an interview with Today. "If it was just a party, we wouldn't have families bringing their kids. [So]what we try to bring to the audience every night is the antidote in ways of what they get on TV from the news."
At the same time, Kenny Chesney is one of the rare artists who is able to stay commercially relevant, 30 years into his career. Not only was his 20th studio album ("Born") on a major label released in March of 2024, but the first single from it ("Take Her Home") also reached the top of the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart in June of 2024, making it the 33rd number 1 hit of his career to date.
"The last night is always so hard," Chesney is quoted on antimusic.com. "Because you've shared so many things over a few months... You get close, you have fun, and you live."
So the last concert of his annual tour is always associated with a bit of sadness. Because it also signals another summer coming to an end. A time that is always marked by special memories and a certain light-heartedness. A feeling that is also inherent in the latest single from the current album. It was written by Kenny Chesney together with Brett James, David Lee Murphy and Matt Dragstrem. It is called 'Just To Say We Did' and it already sits at number 28 after 9 weeks on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart.
spun the wheel or rolled the dice".
We doubled down on a crazy night,
just to say we did.
just to feel alive,
to take a leap of faith,
to feel that kind of high.
It is a bittersweet feeling that is also displayed in the accompanying video with its images from past concert experiences. Experiences that connect all those who have made all those summer concerts by Kenny Chesney an American institution and attending them a loving tradition.
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