For Immediate Release
15 November 2004
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Kenny Takes Fan-Voted AMA Artist of the Year Award
CMA Entertainer of the Year Wins All-Genre T-Mobile Text-In Over Usher,
Outkast, Norah Jones, Evanescence
Los Angeles: The show was pretty far in -- and Kenny Chesney was certain
there was no way a good ole boy from Luttrell, Tennessee could beat Usher or
Outkast for the all-genre T-Mobile Text-In Artist of the Year. But when the
message beeped, the winner wasn't Usher -- who'd dominated the evening,
Outkast -- who'd picked up a couple awards or even Norah Jones or
Evanescence.
Kenny Chesney, who'd just won his first Country Music Association Awards
earlier this week with the top Entertainer of the Year and prestigious Album
of the Year for his triple platinum When The Sun Goes Down, had just
won his first ever American Music Award. Clearly in shock, the terminally
chilled-out singer/songwriter looked into the balcony before offering, "I
feel so honored. I want to thank the fans who have always stood by me and
been part of my life.God bless y'all for this."
And it certainly was the power of Chesney's fan-base -- the same
fan-base that bought 1.2 million concert tickets this year, helping him
outsell every other touring act except Prince and who've bought 3 million
copies of When The Sun Goes Down, along with 4 million copies of
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems -- that brought him his first American
Music Award. "Just like always, it's my fans who make people pay attention,"
Chesney allowed backstage. "They humble me, because their passion for what I
do is sometimes beyond anything you could hope for."
With "There Goes My Life" spending 8 weeks at #1 and his Uncle Kracker
duet on "When The Sun Comes Down" lodging 7 weeks at #1, plus "I Go Back"
taking a 9 week residency at #2 behind Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were
Dying," the fans' passion is clearly heard between the grooves. As Chesney
says, trying to pin down the connection, "I make these records to reflect my
life, and the best part of my career is seeing people living these songs
every day in their own lives. If you wanna feel connected to a lot of people
you'll never ever get to meet, this is about the best way I can think of."
The connection continues as Chesney heads to New York for a whirlwind 2
days. Kicking off NBC's "Today Show" Thanksgiving Week Concert Series on
Monday, Nov. 22 and then checking into Manhattan's trendy Cro-Bar Nov. 23
for an Oxygen Network Custom Concert special with Ashanti -- which debuts on
Nov. 28th at 10 p.m. -- "the man from Tennessee" is fixing to kick it into
high gear before kicking back for the holidays.
As "The Woman With You" aims for the top of the Country Singles charts,
Chesney gets ready for another single from When The Sun Goes Down and
begins the final stages of Be As You Are: Songs From An Old Blue Chair,
a deeply personal detour into the realm of a more James Taylor examination
of his love affair with the Caribbean and the people who inhabit them --
which will be released concurrent to Sun.
"This has been one amazing week," Chesney allows. "There's a part of me
that wonders if I'm gonna wake up, cause it's almost too much to be
believed. To win your first CMA Awards and have 'em be Album and Entertainer
of the Year -- or to win your first AMA and have it be both fan-voted and
across all the genres, well, it just kinda takes your breath away. And like
I've been telling people for two years now: when I take that stage and hear
those fans, THAT'S like being named Entertainer of the Year every single
night."
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