Friday, June 13, 2003 | 9:20 a.m.
Who: Kenny Chesney with Keith Urban, Deana Carter.
When: 8 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Admission: $45, $65.
Information: (702) 632-7777.
Three weeks ago, Kenny Chesney tried addressing country music fans at Mandalay Bay Events Center, along with millions following the 38th annual "Academy of Country Music Awards" from home on television.
For the first time in his career, however, the 33-year-old singer was unable to find his voice.
Stunned by the announcement that he had been named Male Vocalist of the Year, Chesney was overwhelmed by the moment. Visibly choked up, he managed only a quick "Thank you, thank you" before exiting the stage.
"I couldn't help it really, you know?" Chesney said in a recent phone interview from his home near Nashville, Tenn. "I've just never really won any awards, never been the guy who's name was called.
"It was emotional, because we've been doing this for 11 years and we've been down a lot of roads and gone through a lot of ups and downs. And the fact that I'm in a spot now in my career where the industry finally recognized it was really good."
Saturday night at 8, Chesney will be back in the same arena, on the same stage where his emotions got the best of him. Keith Urban and Deana Carter are also on the bill for what promises to be one of Las Vegas' top country concerts this year.
"Vegas has been a market that has been really good to us in the past, and the way the sales are going for this one, it looks like it's going to be our biggest night there ever," Chesney said.
Even though one of the industry's top individual awards now sits on his mantle, Chesney still gives off the same humble, aw-shucks vibe for which he's famous. He's long been considered the people's performer, even though he has plenty of reasons to let success go to his head.
Chesney's latest album, last year's "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems," went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, knocking Ashanti's self-titled debut out of the top spot.
"Ashanti was pretty (angry) at us for a couple weeks," Chesney joked. 'She knows who Kenny Chesney is now whether she wants to or not."
The album has produced four Top 10 country hits: "Young," "The Good Stuff," "A Lot of Things Different" and "Big Star." "The Good Stuff" was also named Single of the Year at the ACMAs.
Chesney's tour sold more tickets than any other act, country or otherwise, during 2003's first quarter.
"You don't know you're doing that until you see that in print. You just know you're out there and a lot of people are coming to see you and you're having a good time," Chesney said. "And then somebody tells you that you've got more people coming to see you than anybody in the world. It's pretty neat."
Chesney was even named to People magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive" list last year, an honor which stills seems to make the modest Tennessean quite uncomfortable.
"That's ... that's something that's ... yeah ... I appreciate it and everything, but it's not something that I strive for," Chesney finally answered. "I'm glad they think so, and it was cool to be in that company with George Clooney and Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson and a bunch of other people. But I really don't see myself as a sex symbol. I see myself as a country singer that's in shape."
Of course, it doesn't hurt if a few extra women show up for a show because they think a musician is sexy. But Chesney, single for now but "dating a girl," hopes fans are drawn to his music first.
"When they go buy my records, I hope they do it because they like the music, not because I can bench press 200 pounds. I hope that's why they like it. Not because I have five percent body fat or 10."
Whatever the reason, fans are flocking to Chesney's shows. Saturday he played to more than 61,000 people at a rare concert at the University of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium, the first at the venue since Michael Jackson's "Victory" tour in 1984.
More than any award, that experience will always have a place in Chesney's heart.
"I was at that stadium every other Saturday as a kid whenever Tennessee played, so I've seen a lot of history there," Chesney said. "To be able to add a little musical history to that is really neat.
"It's the biggest show we've done as a headliner. We've played a lot of stadiums with George Strait, but we were never the man. George was the man."
These days, Chesney is most definitely the man in country circles. He was even tapped by Alabama to present the band's career achievement award at the ACMAs.
"They asked me to do that, which was a big honor," Chesney said. "They're one of the biggest bands ever. Their longevity is unbelievable."
Chesney appears headed toward his own long run in the business. Many consider him a successor to one of music's more road-tested veterans, Jimmy Buffett, and the beachy images on his CD cover art and in his videos certainly point in that direction.
Chesney is characteristically unpretentious when discussing his own future.
"As long as I enjoy it and people want to hear me, I would love to have a career like Alabama's or Conway Twitty's," he said. "I mean, to have the kind of longevity like the Rolling Stones have had is awesome.
"And shoot, we're working on our eighth record, and our 11th year out here. So it's looking like it's going pretty good."
archive
