Kenny Chesney will become an official member of the Country Music Hall of Fame later this year. The Knoxville native will join the ranks of several country music icons, including those that have a unique connection with him.

“I’m from East Tennessee, and it is so amazing to know that you’re going into the Hall of Fame with three fellow East Tennesseans,” Chesney says. “People that grew up where I grew up. My grandparents lived on the same street that Chet Atkins grew up in. I rode my bicycle past that property all the time. To know that I’m going in with Dolly Parton is a huge deal for me.”

Chesney is also thrilled to be part of the Country Music Hall of Fame with Dean Dillon, who is from just outside of Knoxville. Good friends, Dillon also penned some of Chesney’s biggest hits, including “A Lot of Things Different,” “I’m Alive,” which he wrote with Chesney, and more.

“I don’t have a brother in life, but if I did, it would be Dean Dillon,” Chesney says. “Dean Dillon and I have written a lot of songs. I’ve looked up to Dean my whole creative life. He was someone that really taught me a lot about creating with a lot of authenticity. Dean and I spent countless days on a boat in the Virgin Islands creating songs, and it’s some of my favorite days of creating music in my life. So it is a big thrill, and a big honor for me to stand up here knowing that I’m going into the Hall of Fame with three people from East Tennessee. That means the world to me.”

It was when Chesney saw Alabama in concert as a child that his own musical dreams began. He never imagined how far they would take him, including becoming a Country Music Hall of Fame member.

“I had a really big dream and I’m still pushing that dream as far as I can,” Chesney says. “I just wanted to record and write songs that reflected the lives of a lot of people that came to our shows, and I just wanted to spread as much positive energy and love as I possibly could …I know it’s not a dream. It’s real and it feels surreal.”

The “Just To Say We Did” singer has already crossed off a lot of items from his bucket list, including selling out stadiums all over the country. But even his biggest hopes didn’t include receiving country music’s highest honor.

“That’s just something you don’t dare to imagine,” Chesney says. “I would never have even thought about being here, because it’s almost too much. Just walking past so many of these bronzes, realizing how many are friends or whose music I’ve listened to my whole life. This is an honor that extends beyond anything my heart would dare think.”

Chesney will become a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame this fall, along with June Carter Cash and Tony Brown.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the CMA / Shutterstock