For Immediate Release
19 April 2004
For More Information
Holly Gleason for Joe's Garage
Wes Vause for BNA Nashville

Burn, Baby, Burn --
No One Hurt In Chesney Merch Truck Meltdown


   A Little Past Little Rock: Normally when people say "Kenny Chesney's on
fire," it's metaphoric. But things got terrifyingly literal Saturday morning at
3:10 -- as the merchandise truck Chesney has on the road was struck head on
by a driver going the wrong way off the on-ramp onto I-40 West .

   "We'd just left the venue, maybe 10 minutes before and we came up on this
truck on the side of the road… on fire," says the man who's enjoying his
second straight multiple week #1 single with the title track from his already
double platinum When The Sun Goes Down. "As we came up on it, we realized that it
was our merch truck, so we all piled out to watch it burn to the ground."

   The driver of the car evidently hit the fuel tank just right -- setting
the truck on fire. Over $1.5 million in merchandise was lost in the blaze, but
Chesney's driver was able to escape without serious injuries before the truck
was consumed by the flames.

   "I'm just glad no one was hurt," says the pride of Luttrell, Tennessee.
"The way those things go up -- and this one went pretty fast -- you only have a
small window of time to get out. And the person driving the other car went to
the hospital, and he's been released. Everyone's shook up, and it sure
reminds you to take nothing for granted… but the main thing is, even though we lost
all the merch and the Gator we run it around on, everybody's getting returned
to their families in one piece."

   Emergency merchandise was airlifted into Oklahoma City-- and both the
show AND the t-shirts went on. It's a whole other kind of blazing, for sure, but
at least there's enough heat on the reigning Academy of Country Music Top Male
Vocalist and Single of the Year winner to make rectifying these situations
within the realm of reason.

   With three CMT Flameworthy Award nominations -- Hottest, Male and Video
of the Year, plus three Academy of Country Music Association Awards nods -- for
Entertainer, Top Male and Song of the Year for the 7 week #1 "There Goes My
Life," Chesney's life has a way of falling together. Not only had every date of
the Guitars, Tiki Bars and A Whole Lot of Love Tour thus far been sold-out,
the man whose taken up residency at #1 after a mere 9 weeks with his Unkle
Kracker party anthem "When The Sun Goes Down" sold over 125,000 tickets this
weekend alone -- with a 20,000+ sell-out in Atlanta in a matter of hours.

   Having followed Bruce Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band as the #3
ticket-seller overall, Chesney's been connecting with his fans in a big way. Big
enough that Carribean favorite Cruzan Rum approached the man whose past two
albums have both debuted at #1 on Billboard's all-genre Top 200 charts as a
marketing partner.

   "When these scary things happen, you make sure you double check
everything with regard to safety, then you remember that even with all that, you have
no control over someone getting on the freeway late at night, going the wrong
direction," says Chesney philosophically. "In those moments, you thank heavens
that nobody got hurt -- and you realize how lucky you are. That's all there
is, really, and that's plenty."
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