He is a singer-songwriter born Kenneth Arnold Chesney
in Knoxvile, Tennessee and raised in Luttrel, Tennessee.After high school he studied
advertising at the East Tennessee State University where he also became a
member of the ETSU Bluegrass Program.He would sing at local restaurants and bars in Johnson City,
Tennessee, while attending the university and when he was 21 he recorded
and released a thousand copies of his first album which were sold by him at
gigs and the money used to purchase a guitar.After graduating in 1990 he went straight to Nashville
and played at clubs before signing up with Opryland Music Group and
BMI.His first album with them
came out in 1994 with two singles making the charts, but not doing anything
substantial.He then signed to
BNA Records and released the album All I Need to Know with "All I
Need to Know", "Fall in Love" being Top Ten hits and "Grandpa Told Me So"
reaching No. 23.This was all
the beginning of a hugely successful career that has since seen him having
13 No. 1s, including "She's Got It All", "The Good Stuff", "How Forever
Feels" and "You Had Me From Hello" and over 30 singles in the Top 10 of the
Billboard Country chart.He
has also had 13 albums with eleven of them reaching gold status or
higher.Aside from his
solo material, he has sung vocals on "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" which
reached the No. 1 spot for Tracy Lawrence, and co-wrote Rascal Flatts'
single "Take Me There".Some
of the albums he has appeared on include his own All I want for Christmas
is a Real Good Tan, Everywhere We Go, The Road and the Radio, When the Sun
Goes Down and No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem and also License
to Chill by Jimmy
Buffett and Gravedigger, Willie & Friends:
Live & Kickin' and Moment of Forever by Willie Nelson. In 2005 he was briefly married to
the actress Renee Zellwegger, but it was annulled after four months. A busy touring musician he is always on the road and his
2008 Poets and Pirates tour has been set to include performances by LeAnn
Rimes and Keith Urban.Gaining
recognition for his contribution to music he has been given many awards
such as a commemoration plaque for his 25 million sales of albums in 2006
and also that year, and the following year too, he was made "Entertainer of
the Year" by the Academy of Country Music.
