Kenny Chesney Co-Founds New Record Label, Joins as Flagship Artist

Kenny Chesney is forging a new path. The country superstar has co-founded a new independent record label, Hey Now Records, and joined the company as its flagship artist.

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Chesney co-founded the label with his longtime manager, Clint Higham. The men also teamed up with the former head of Warner Nashville, John Esposito, and former Big Machine executive Kris Lamb for the project.

“When Clint, Espo and Kris came to me with the idea of creating our own team, I was curious. A label like this can be all-in, lets-make-stuff-happen—and I have always been about making things happen,” Chesney said. “Creating and exploring what’s possible inspires me, and this is a moment where we can realize ideas in a matter of hours.”

The label is named after Chesney’s boat, which he sang about on the 2013 track “Happy on the Hey Now.”

Lamb will lead the day-to-day operations at the label.

“In a world where structure blocks creativity, Hey Now is a place where whatever we can conceive, we can realize,” he said in part. “This is more than a dream. This is a gateway to creating an entirely new form and reality of artist development.”

Higham added that, “by being laser-focused on the music, artists and right next moves, we can accelerate the artist development process through targeted and specific execution.”

Kenny Chesney’s Year Ahead

The announcement comes amid a busy time for Chesney, who released his memoir, Heart Life Music, last year. In 2026, Chesney is set to return to the Sphere for another run. He previously made history as the first country artist to headline the venue.

Chesney said he plotted his Sphere return after learning about the venue’s “dynamic technology” during his first run.

“I wanted to get back in there and really push what was possible,” he said. “We all had ideas. We were told certain things. But what I really took away is how much fun—and different kinds of experiences people can have—no matter where they experience the show from.”

Chesney said he’s “working on new songs, some things we can’t do in stadiums, new visuals, new momentum to the set” for his summer concerts.

“We have a much better sense of how to make Sphere even more,” Chesney said. “Sphere pulled me into so many songs the fans know and love in new ways. And it deepened how I see them. The production possibilities consume you, so we had to go back to really get everything out of it.”

Photo by Michael Buckner/Billboard via Getty Images