Kenneth Arnold Chesney, popularly known by his stage name of Kenny Chesney, is one of the most popular country music singers and songwriters in the United States. Born on the 26th of March, 1968 in Knoxville, Tennessee, he has sold more than 30 million albums globally, making him one of the best-selling country music artists.
Childhood Years And Rise To Stardom
Kenny grew up in the town of Luttrell, Tennessee, with his sister, Jennifer Chandler, under the guidance of his parents, David Chesney and Karen Chandler.
He went to Gibbs High School where he graduated in 1986. He furthered his studies by going to Johnson City to graduate with a degree in Advertising from the East Tennessee State University in 1990. While performing at bars across Johnson City, he sold about 1000 copies of his 1989 demo album that he produced himself to buy a new guitar.
Kerney burst into the limelight in 1997, when the first single off his fourth album I Will Stand, “She’s Got It All” became his first song to peaked at number one on the Billboard Country Music charts. He followed that success with two other number one hit songs, “You Had Me From Hello” and “How Forever Feels” from his 1998 album, Everywhere We Go. It became his first album to go platinum.
Since then, Kenny has released over 20 albums, with about 40 of his tracks becoming hits on the Billboards charts and over 32 of them peaking at number one on the charts. He has received many awards in his successful musical career, claiming The Entertainer Of The Year Award at The Academy Of Country Music Awards for four years straight between 2005 and 2008. His music tour in the summer of 2007 was the highest-grossing tour by a country music artist for that year.
Relationships And Married Life
Kenny got married to the Hollywood actress, Renee Zellweger on the 9th of May, 2005 on St. John’s island. They had earlier met at an event in January of the same year to raise funds for victims of the devastating tsunami disaster. Their marriage was a short-lived one, as they divorced seven months later on the 15th of December of the same year. Before their divorce got finalized in December, they revealed that they were planning to get a divorce four months into their marriage in September.
At the time, Renee said she was divorcing Kenny because of fraud. She later came out to explain that the word “fraud” did not mean Kenny was a fraudster and gay, but that she used it in a legal context. In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Kenny said their marriage failed because he thought he was mentally ready to be committed to marriage but later discovered he was deceiving himself.
Kenny is presently dating Mary Nolan, with who he has been in a relationship with since 2012. The couple has done a great job of keeping their relationship away from the spotlight, even though they have gone out on different occasions together.
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