Kenny Chesney

Chesney's beginnings in music are traced to Christmas in 1986 when he was gifted his first guitar and began teaching himself to play. Chesney's musical career took a slight side step as he decided to pursue a degree in advertising at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, where he was a member of the ETSU Bluegrass Program and the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. In 1989, Chesney recorded his first self-released demo album at the Classic Recording Studio in Bristol, Virginia. He managed to sell 1,000 copies while performing on the local scene in Johnson City and used the money from album sales to help buy a new guitar. After graduation, he headed to Nashville and performed at several local clubs. He became the resident performer at The Turf, a honky tonk bar in the city's historic district.

Chesney's first album, In My Wildest Dreams, was released on the independent Capricorn Records label in April 1994 which was a moderate to mediocre release in the US Country charts, however later that year Capricorn Records closed their country department and moved to Atlanta so Chesney's career had a slight false start. His first major chart success came in the form of 'Me And You' which broke the US country top 10 and spawned three hit singles. This was merely the beginning for Kenny, his following releases all managed to sell extremely well, 14 of his 15 releases are certified gold or higher to date. From 1998, when 'She's Got It All' topped the US country charts, Kenny went on to score another sixteen US Country number ones and made substantial chart positioning on the Billboard charts too, with the 2009 single 'Out Last Night' breaking the top twenty.

Chesney's most recent charity work includes working with the V Foundation, founded by North Carolina State Wolfpack basketball coach Jim Valvano to help to find a cure for cancer. He is one of the most consistently successful country performers in the States and has sold over thirty million albums to date.