Releasing 40 top 10 singles on the country and pop charts—32 of which hit the No. 1 spot—Kenny Chesney has become one of the most successful crossover country artists.
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Born March 26, 1968, in Knoxville, Tennessee, Chesney started his career as a songwriter with BMI before breaking out with his own solo career, debuting with In My Wildest Dreams in 1994 and his first charting singles, “The Tin Man” and “Whatever It Takes.”
Over nearly three decades, Chesney has curated a catalog of songs spanning 20 albums and hits and favorites, including “Fall In Love,” “Grandpa Told Me So,” “From Hillbilly Hell To Honky Tonk Heaven,” “Guitars and Tiki Bars,” “Boston,” “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy,” “Summertime,” “Big Star,” “Beer In Mexico,” “Pirate Flag,” “Living In Fast Forward,” among many others.
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Collaborating with everyone from Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire, Jimmy Buffett, and Rascal Flatts, and other artists throughout the years, Chesney has also earned two consecutive No. 1 albums, a dozen CMA awards, 11 Academy of Country Music Awards, including four-time Entertainer of the Year wins, among more honors and accolades.
Pulling from his lengthy collection of songs, here’s a look at 10 great Chesney songs.
1. “She’s Got It All” (1997)
Written by Craig Wiseman and Drew Womack
Starting at the very beginning, “She’s Got It All” was Chesney’s first No. hit. The upbeat love song was released on Chesney’s fourth album, I Will Stand.
She’s got it all my heart my soul my wishes
All of my love, my hugs, my kisses
Everything that means anything at all
All my life I spent-a-hopin’
I could give someone such devotion
Every sweet memory I can recall
She got it all
2. “You Had Me from Hello” (1999)
Written by Kenny Chesney and Skip Ewing
The second single off Chesney’s fifth album, Everywhere We Go, which was his first more country-pop crossover, “You Had Me from Hello” was inspired by the iconic line from the 1996 Cameron Crowe romantic drama Jerry Maguire when Tom Cruise’s character (Maguire) tells Renée Zellweger’s Dorothy Boyd “You had me at hello.” The slow-brewing ballad hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
One word, that’s all you said
Something in your voice caused me to turn my head
Your smile just captured me
And you were in my future, far as I could see
And I don’t know how it happened, but it happened still
You ask me if I love you, if I always will
3. “Don’t Happen Twice” (2001)
Written by Curtis Lance and Thom McHugh
Co-produced by Chesney and written by Curtis Lance and Thom McHugh, “Don’t Happen Twice” was one of two new tracks Chesney added to his first Greatest Hits compilation. “Don’t Happen Twice” is about a man talking to his first love and remembering all the times they spent together.
We sang ‘Bobby McGee’ on the hood of my car
Made a wish on every star
In that clear September sky
One bottle of wine, two Dixie cups
At three a.m. I fell in love
For the first time in my life
And that’s somethin’
That just don’t happen twice
4. “The Good Stuff” (2002)
Written by Jim Collins and Craig Wiseman
Chesney’s sixth album No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems also held one of his biggest chart toppers. “The Good Stuff” was Chesney’s fifth No. 1 and longest at the top of the chart, where it remained for seven weeks. The song tells the story of a bartender who lost his wife to cancer and tells the narrator, who had a fight with his own partner, that “the good stuff” is the memories made with the person you love, while they are still with you.
The song was inspired by Rusty Martin, a friend and security guard that songwriters Jim Collins and Craig Wiseman had known, who moved to Nashville after he lost his wife to cancer. “Jim and I were just about to write another song,” said Wiseman. “We were talking about, what if you just sat there and watched your wife die. We both just sat there and were sort of stunned for a minute. We said, ‘OK, let’s get a cup of coffee and write a song.’”
‘Cause it’s the first long kiss on a second date
Momma’s all worried when you get home late
And droppin’ the ring in the spaghetti plate
‘Cause your hands are shakin’ so much
An’ it’s the way that she looks with the rice in her hair
Eatin’ burnt suppers the whole first year
An’ askin’ for seconds to keep her from tearin’ up
Yeah, man, that’s the good stuff
5. “There Goes My Life” (2003)
Written by Neil Trasher and Wendell Mobley
The story behind “There Goes My Life” follows a teen who learns his girlfriend is pregnant and how their lives will be impacted. Featured on Chesney’s eighth album, When the Sun Goes Down, the song spent several weeks at No. 1 between 2003 and 2004.
All he could think about was
How I’m too young for this
Got my whole life ahead
Hell I’m just a kid myself
How am I gonna raise one
All he could see were his dreams
Goin’ up in smoke
So much for ditchin’ this town
And hangin’ out on the coast
Oh well, those plans are long gone
6. “Who You’d Be Today” (2005)
Written by Bill Luther Aimee Mayo
The first single off Chesney’s tenth album, The Road and the Radio, “Who You’d Be Today” is a heartfelt ballad about someone who died well before their time. The song reached No. 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
It ain’t fair you died too young
Like a story that had just begun
But death tore the pages all away
God knows how I miss you
All the hell that I’ve been through
Just knowing no one could take your place
Sometimes I wonder who you’d be today
7. “Living In Fast Forward” (2005)
Written by David Lee Murphy and Rivers Rutherford
Chesney’s country rock “Living in Fast Forward” reflects on the past decade or so of his career and how fast it’s moved. Also released on The Road and the Radio, the song hit the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, while the album also debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
The body’s a temple, that’s what we’re taught
I’ve treated this one like an old honky-tonk
Greasy cheeseburgers and cheap cigarettes
One day they’ll get me if they ain’t got me yet
8. “Never Wanted Nothing More ( 2007)
Written by Chris Stapleton and Ronnie Bowman
The uptempo “Never Wanted Nothing More” is a recollection of all of the “firsts” in Chesney’s life—his first car, finding faith, and marriage. Off his 11th album, Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, the track quickly climbed to the No. 1 spot on the country chart. Chesney’s first album reflects more of his western and gulf coast sound, Poets & Pirates also features duets with George Strait and Joe Walsh.
A little rust in the bed of that truck
And a four-speed on the floor
Five hundred dollars it was mine, all mine
And I never wanted nothin’ more
9. “Come Over” (2012)
Written by Josh Osborne, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally
Released on Chesney’s 14th album, Welcome to the Fishbowl, “Come Over” was his 22nd No. 1 hit. The mid-tempo ballad is a “classy booty call song,” according to Chesney, and reveals something deeper in a couple’s relationship.
“‘Come Over’” is about two people who are as broken as their relationship is when they realize deep down that their time together has probably run its course, but they aren’t really ready to emotionally or physically move on to something else,” said Chesney. “They keep going back to each other because it’s familiar. It’s about emotionally feeling wanted in a moment, but it feels impossible to let anybody else fill that void. It’s a really sexy song with lyrics that are incredibly universal.”
I turned the TV off, to turn it on again
Staring at the blades of the fan as it spins around
Counting every crack, the clock is wide awake
Talking to myself, anything to make a sound
I told you I wouldn’t call, I told you I wouldn’t care
But baby, climbing the walls gets me nowhere
I don’t think that I can take this bed getting any colder
Come over, come over, come over, come over, come over
10. “Tip Of My Tongue” (2020)
Written by Kenny Chesney, Ed Sheeran, and Ross Copperman
Co-written with Ed Sheeran and Ross Copperman, “Tip Of My Tongue” was the lead single off Chesney’s 2020 album, Here and Now. An idiom typically used for a name or word that one is nearly remembering, Chesney’s “Tip Of My Tongue” refers to how good a lover can taste and feel—I love your salt and sugar / On the tip of my tongue.
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“It is an authentic story in my life,” said Chesney, “and an idea in my life about connection.”
I love the dimples in the small of your back
The way they’re speaking to me just like that
Red wine make my imagination run
Oh, I can taste it on the tip of my tongue
Let it rock, let it roll
Baby I am under your control
Love me fast, kiss me slow
Hang on to anything you can hold
Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images
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