Kenny Chesney doesn’t do many duets, which makes the ones he does that much more meaningful. These are four songs Chesney sang with other artists, which are so good that they should be required listening for every country music fan.
Videos by American Songwriter
“You And Tequila” with Grace Potter
In 2011, Chesney teamed up with singer-songwriter Grace Potter to record “You And Tequila”. On Hemingway’s Whiskey, the song is written by Matraca Berg and Deana Carter.
Chesney and Potter had instant chemistry when recording “You And Tequila”. Now close friends, Chesney reveals they never met until they were in the studio together.
“This song makes me believe in music even more. I’d never met Grace Potter until she came into the studio,” Chesney recalls (via Songfacts). “She grew up in the woods in Vermont. I grew up in the woods in East Tennessee. We come from completely different worlds, different backgrounds, probably religious beliefs. … I heard her voice, and I knew I would love to sing with her one day.”
One of Chesney’s few crossover hits, he liked singing with Potter so much that she later joined him on “Wild Child” in 2015.
“Setting The World On Fire” With Pink
In 2016, pop superstar Pink joined Chesney on “Setting The World On Fire”. On Chesney’s Cosmic Hallelujah album, “Setting The World On Fire” is written by Ross Copperman, Matt Jenkins, and Josh Osborne.
“Setting The World On Fire” says, “Up all night and we were feeling so good / Yeah, we got a little higher than we probably should / We were in a hotel singing in the hallway lights / We were striking the matches right down to the ashes / Setting the world on fire, setting the world on fire.”
Osborne is a writer on Kacey Musgraves’ “Merry Go Round”. He tells Taste of Country he had the idea of “Setting The World On Fire” while celebrating his Grammy win for the song.
“Half Of My Hometown” With Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Ballerini is the one who asked Chesney to sing with her on “Half Of My Hometown“. On her Kelsea project, the 2021 single is written by Ballerini, Copperman, Nicolle Galyon, Shane McAnally, and Jimmy Robbins.
A song about their shared East Tennessee roots, Chesney gave an immediate yes when Ballerini asked if he would join her on the nostalgic tune
“It was so beautiful,” Chesney tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “It was so much about not only her life, but it was about my life and the same roads we drove down. And I knew I wanted to sing on it.
“Shiftwork” With George Strait
“Shiftwork” is one of Chesney’s early duets, which he sings with the King of Country Music. In 2008, Chesney and George Strait released “Shiftwork”. On Chesney’s 2007 Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates record, “Shiftwork” celebrates the average blue-collar worker.
The song says, “Shift work, tough work for the busy convenience store clerk / Two feet that hurt, going insane / She’s mad at some lad / Drove off and didn’t pay for his gas, and he won’t be the last / ‘Round the clock pain / Work seven to three / Three to eleven / Eleven to seven / Talking about a bunch of shift work.”
Photo by Frank Micelotta/The Walt Disney Company via Getty Images
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