For Immediate Release

12 June 2002

For More Information

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Wes Vause for BNA Nashville

Kenny Chesney Takes Top CMT Video Awards --

Fan-Voted Flameworthy Male and Overall Video of the Year Award Are His!

 

 

    Nashville, TN: Maybe the shrieking when he got out of the limo for the

red carpet should've been some indication of how the night would be. But a

visibly stunned Kenny Chesney not only walked off with the coveted

Flameworthy Male Video Artist of the Year, but the evening's top prize: the

CMT Flameworthy Video of the Year for his joyous

over-the-shoulder-look-at-the-joys-of-one's-youth Sean Silva-directed clip

for "Young."

   

    "I wasn't ready and I didn't really know what to say," Chesney conceded

backstage. "When I walk onstage and hear those fans, that's like getting an

award -- and when it's as good as it's been this tour, you don't even think

beyond that, because how much more could you really expect? But, MAN, when

you hear your name called… your heart races, your mouth gets dry and you

think, well, no, you stop thinking!"

 

    Over two million votes were cast online for CMT: Country Music

Television's inaugural Flameworthy Awards -- with the evening's top honor

being narrowed from ten to five nominees during the initial portion of the

show, and the ultimate winner being chosen during the live telecast. And to

pick up the Male Video Artist of the Year, Chesney had to outvote Alan

Jackson, Trace Adkins, Toby Keith and Tim McGraw.

 

    "Everybody says they do it for the fans," Chesney allows, "but for me,

for so long, that's all I had. And that's what I am, too: a fan. I used to

watch all the awards shows, dreaming one day that would be me. I used to go

to concerts and look at the stage and dream of being Keith Whitley. I

listened to records, thinking one day that might be -- and that's what makes

the fan connection so strong and so important to me. That they feel this

connected back, well, that's an amazing feeling."

 

    For Chesney, whose No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems debuted at #1 Billboard

 Top 200 and has been #1 Billboard's Country Album Chart for the past 7

weeks, the fans have been voting since his new music hit the streets. The

deeply personal work -- co-produced with Buddy Cannon and Norro Wilson --

sold 75,000 pieces its first day and surpassed platinum status on second day

reorders alone.

 

    Hailed as "Country's Hottest Bachelor" by Country Weekly and "Hunky Tonk"

by People, Chesney's latest project marks a slight maturation for the

emergent singer/songwriter with back-to-back double platinum releases for his

Greatest Hits and Everywhere We Go. Committed to reflecting the lives and

emotions of young America. The Luttrell, Tennessean embraces a half-sung,

half-spoken song about what matters in life called "A Lot of Things

Different" - from the pens of no less than Bill Anderson and Dean Dillon, the

tropical title track, the traditional country "The Good Stuff," the driving

"Live Those Songs," his own aching "I Can't Go There," Bruce Springsteen's

classic song of emotional paralysis and relationship turmoil "One Step Up."

 

    The Country Weekly, Country Music, CMA Close-Up and The Los Angeles Times'

 Calendar section cover boy has now demonstrated the power of his

relationship with the fans. His No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems amphitheater

tour -- featuring Montgomery Gentry, Jamie O'Neal and Phil Vassar -- has been

selling out wherever it goes, and in some markets, the fans are even cutting

holes in the venues fences to gain access to the dates.

 

    "It's been a year of seeing how strong my bond with the fans is… and

every day, I just shake my head. Walking up on that stage, knowing they'd

sent me there, well, there's no better feeling in this world."

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