Over 30 years since his debut album, and Kenny Chesney is bigger than ever. Just days after his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the singer is gearing up for another round of his history-making residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas, and next week he'll release his memoir, Heart Life Music. To celebrate it all and to look back on his astounding career, Kenny recently joined Katie Neal inside our Nashville studio for the Superstar Power Hour.
LISTEN NOW: Superstar Power Hour with Kenny Chesney
"I have to tell you, walking into that rotunda, and they say your name over the speakers, 'Country Music Hall of Famer Kenny Chesney,' and every living member is in there, you get to a place where it hits you in that moment," Kenny reveals about his induction. "The gravity of that moment is truly unbelievable."
"I sat beside my mother and father, which was a gift, to be at this place in my life and career and get inducted into the Hall of Fame and still have both them with us, and I sat right beside them and the whole ceremony, my mother was squeezing my hand really hard. I said, 'Mom, you're got to let go a little bit,' he laughs. "It was emotional. It really was. It was to have all my friends there and the people that have been on this journey with me and a lot of people, you know, there's been a lot of ups and downs over the years, and to be standing there in that spot, it was just so insane."
The journey that Chesney embarked on decades ago brought him to this moment, and he explores it all in his new book, Heart Life Music. "This book is a roadmap of a dream," Kenny shares. "You can either take this roadmap or not, but this roadmap is full of friends, it's full of really hard work. It's not viral, it's by word of mouth. Everything's so viral today that this map doesn't really exist much anymore but, it can work."
"I just learned, writing this book that I've been very blessed. I have so much gratitude, but even as a kid, I was just always very curious and always wanted to push this dream to see where it would take me even early on, and not even knowing, not even understanding what the dream was."
For a deep dive into the new book from Kenny Chesney and more, check out the full conversation above. Heart Life Music is available everywhere on November 4.