My Wonderful Wolrd Of Kenny Chesney

Kenny Chesney has built his career the old-fashioned way: one step, one hit, and one gold record at a time.

Kenny grew up in the small east Tennessee Town of Luttrell, located 15 miles north of Knoxville, Tennessee.

Kenny, age 7 months

His musical dreams developed while attending college at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. He received a guitar for Christmas and the rest is history. He began playing four or five hours a day.

Kenny, age 17

He joined a bluegrass band and started writing songs. He landed a regular job playing at a Mexican restaurant and local bars and fraternity houses. He graduated in December 1990 with a degree in advertising and moved to Nashville in January of 1991.

After arriving in Nashville, Kenny paid his dues singing at a club on Lower Broadway. Later, he parked cars and concentrated on songwriting. His songwriting skills have helped to open many doors for him. In 1992, he signed a publishing deal with Acuff-Rose Music. A songwriter's showcase led to the signing of his recording contract with Capricorn Records.

His 1994 Capricorn album, "In My Wildest Dreams," had little success, but gained the attention of Music Row Executives. When Capricorn closed their Country division, Kenny signed with BNA Records.

His initial taste of success came with his first album on BNA, "All I Need to Know," with hits like "Fall in Love" and "All I Need to Know" and "Grandpa Told Me So."

Kenny scored his first #1 record with "When I Close My Eyes" from his sophomore project on BNA, "Me and You." Other hits from the gold-certified album include "Me and You" and "Back in My Arms Again."

His latest BNA project, "I Will Stand," has already produced a 3-week #1 single on Billboard Charts with "She's Got It All." He is joined by his pals Tracy Lawrence and George Jones on the stone country cut, "From Hillbilly Heaven to Honky Tonk Hell," also included on the album. Musically speaking, he has never sounded so confident, mature, soulful and rooted in his influences.

"I don't know how long the good Lord's gonna let me be in this music business, or even be this successful at it, " he adds with a warm, measured smile. "So while I'm here, I want to enjoy every minute of it."