Kenny Chesney Surprises Sphere Crowd With Eric Church—Who Promptly Forgets His Biggest Hit

After playing host to the Eagles, U2, and Phish, the one-of-a-kind Sphere in Las Vegas welcomed its first solo country artist last year in Kenny Chesney. Now, the 12-time CMA Award winner is back for another historic run at the world’s largest spherical structure. Kicking off his 2026 residency on Friday, June 19, Chesney surprised the opening-night crowd with a cameo from his former opening act, Eric Church. However, the sheer vastness of the venue apparently proved overwhelming for Church—so much so that he temporarily blanked on the words to his signature song.

Kenny Chesney Borrowed a Fan’s Phone to Help Eric Church

First, Eric Church joined Kenny Chesney for a duet of the latter’s 2013 song “When I See This Bar”. The pair frequently performed the song together when Church opened for the Country Music Hall of Famer’s Big Revival tour.

The following number—Church’s 2012 Hot Country Song chart-topper “Springsteen”—didn’t proceed quite as smoothly.

According to fan-captured footage, the North Carolina-born artist only made it one line in before forgetting the lyrics he wrote himself with Jeff Hyde and Ryan Tyndell.

Church, 49, played off the mishap, chuckling, “It’s always good to forget your biggest hit.”

@countryminute

Eric Church surprised No Shoes Nation with an appearance at the opening night of Kenny Chesney at The Sphere. During the three song appearance, Church forgot the lyrics to “Springsteen,” which lead the crowd to burst out laughing. He pulled it together, but it made for a big moment at the show. Could Eric be the next Sphere headliner? #countrymusic #kennychesney #ericchurch

♬ original sound – Country Minute

When the two started from the top, Chesney wasn’t taking any chances. The “Anything But Mine” singer borrowed a crowd-goer’s phone to help jog Church’s memory.

@jordynsgolfgroove

It’s okay, even @Eric Church, forgets the words to his biggest hit #kennychesney #ericchurch #springsteen #noshoesnation #chief

♬ original sound – JordynsGolfGroove

It Happens to the Best

Eric Church is far from the first artist to stumble over his own lyrics on the $2.3 billion stage. A show at the Sphere is quite the spectacle, and the sensory overload can knock even a seasoned performer like Kenny Chesney off their game.

The “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem” crooner, 58, previously recalled his mind going totally blank ahead of his Sphere debut.

“I’m used to the stuff going on behind me, but up here and in front of me and over here in your peripheral—like, it’s so visual,” Chesney recounted earlier this year on Literally! with Rob Lowe.

[RELATED: Kenny Chesney Teases Exciting Changes to His 2026 Sphere Shows and “Really Push What Was Possible”]

He continued, “There was two moments in the show of songs that I wrote… and I was so distracted the first night that I was completely lost in the middle of my own song. I forgot the words.”

Fortunately, No Shoes Nation had the singer’s back. “I admitted it to the audience—I went, ‘Okay, help me because I’m lost. I’m looking into all this stuff,’” he recalled. “And you know, it was kind of a bonding moment in a way for us.”

Kenny Chesney wraps up his 2026 Sphere run on Saturday, July 11.

Featured image by Kevin Winter/ACM2015/Getty Images for dcp