Kenny Chesney
Like Jimmy Buffet and other artists who sell a lifestyle to their fans, Kenny Chesney carved out a sub-culture of beach party country-rock that drew hundreds of thousands of fans. Blending country, rock and island music earned Chesney the moniker of "Hillbilly Rock Star," making him not only a country music icon but also a successful entrepreneur and one of the hardest working musicians of his era. Born Kenneth Arnold Chesney on March 26, 1968 in Knoxville, Chesney was raised in the small town of Luttrell, Tennessee. As a sports star in high school, Chesney spent much of his adolescence on the field playing football and baseball. It wasn't until he attended college at East Tennessee State that he got into music and taught himself to play the guitar, eventually performing in the school's Bluegrass program and playing cover songs in the bars around campus. Having earned a degree in advertising, Chesney was business-savvy and knew how to market himself at a stage when few artists do. He self-financed his own album to sell at local gigs before setting his sights on Nashville. Upon graduating in 1990, he moved to the county music capital and quickly landed a songwriting deal with BMI and Opryland Music Group in 1992. His debut album, In My Wildest Dreams" came out in two years later on the recently-revived southern rock label Capricorn Records, featuring his smooth baritone vocals on more traditional country ballads then his later releases. The album bore two country singles, but shortly after, the label closed down its country division, leaving him without a home. Luckily, he had caught attention of RCA subsidiary BNA Records, and went on to release his breakthrough second album, All I Need to Know, which yielded Top Ten country hits "All I Need To know" and "Fall In Love." 1997 was a year of miletones, with Chesney taking home his first major award by winning the Top New Male Vocalist trophy from the Academy of Country Music and scoring a number one hit with "She's Got It All," which would be the first of many over the next ten years.