Over the past three decades, Kenny Chesney has carved out one of the most successful careers in modern country music. He has amassed 32 No. 1 singles, more than a dozen No. 1 albums many of which topped both the country and all-genre charts, and much more. He also regularly sells out massive venues across the country and around the world. Now, the East Tennessee native is doing something he’s never done before. He’ll release his first book, Heart Life Music, later this year.
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Heart Life Music will hit bookstore shelves across the country on November 4. The country megastar wrote the memoir with his longtime friend and award-winning journalist/author Holly Gleason, according to press materials. In the book, Chesney aims to shine a light on the people, places, and experiences that shaped his life and brought him to where he is today.
In his book, Chesney will share his “journey from small town East Tennessee dreamer to commanding the largest stages across the nation,” per the press release. The book will also, “capture the sparks of creativity, venture to places long gone,” and more. Heart Life Music will feature stories about Chesney making music in far-flung places including Jamaica, the Kremlin, New England, and Cabo San Lucas. Chesney will also reflect on working with his heroes, friends, and other “singular folks” throughout his journey to superstardom.
Kenny Chesney on Heart Life Music
Kenny Chesney spoke about his forthcoming book in the press release. “This is not my memoir, but something far better,” he shared. “It is almost a love letter to people who shaped and inspired me, the fans who’ve been there from tiny bars, radio stations who believed when nobody else did, a team who just kept coming back, legends who gave me wisdom and opportunities, and all the friends who’ve been there along the way,” he added. “To me, that’s where the music comes from—and this is the story of how it turned into the soundtrack for the way No Shoes Nation lives their lives too,” he explained.
“I always said I’d never write a book,” Chesney said. “Too many things happened almost to be believed, let alone lived, but I realized with the world moving in such a fast-forward motion, too much of what made Nashville, the music business, and our lives great would be lost to the churn of the next click. To have been in a room as a kid writing with Dean Dillon, have Sean Peyton call an NFL press conference to announce he’s drafting me to the Saints, be in Tuff Gong Studios with Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett and Alvin ‘Seeco’ Patterson, or on a private place with George Jones after opening for him defies logic,” he explained. Chesney concluded that the No Shoes Nation deserves to “share the magic” of his long journey to the top.
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