Kenny Chesney‘s recent tour opener is now a CMA Awards winner. Megan Moroney, who opened for Chesney on his Sun Goes Down Tour earlier this year, won the trophy for New Artist of the Year, an impressive accomplishment Chesney spoke about on social media.
“Congratulations to Meg Moroney on your big win last night,” Chesney posted on social media. “We are all so happy for you and proud to watch you stand up there last night like a star that you are. This is just the beginning!! We love you Megan!!!”
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Moroney spoke about Chesney’s influence on her, backstage at the CMA Awards after her win, and the lessons she learned from opening for the country music superstar.
“That tour was my favorite tour of all time,” Moroney shared. “I’ve been asked recently in interviews like, ‘Okay, well what’s your dream tour?’ And I was like, ‘I think it would be to go back on the road with Kenny, just learning so much from him as an artist, a performer, and then also becoming such good friends with him. He’s just a great person. It’s cool to surround yourself with people like him.”
Chesney’s debut All I Need to Know album came out in 1995, two years before Moroney was even born. Still, the 27-year-old still aspires someday to be the kind of artist and performer that she saw in Chesney night after night.
“Just watching him, and realizing that he plays for over 90 minutes every night, probably like 120 minutes or something, and he doesn’t even play all of his hits,” Moroney said. “A big note that I took was, ‘Okay, you’ve got to write a lot of good songs,’ because it’s just incredible that he can play for that long, and then doesn’t even play some of his most known hits because he doesn’t have time.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the CMA
Earlier this year, Moroney shared what she was learning from Chesney, by opening for him night after night.
“I literally watch his whole show every night— side stage— trying to learn from him,’ Moroney told People. “From everything he does on the stage to interacting with his fans, I’m trying to take note of every move he makes.”
“Even off stage, the routine that [Kenny] sticks to? He hasn’t drank this entire tour and he does ice baths and he has a very strict diet,” she continued. “I’ve just been trying to absorb all of his knowledge because he obviously has so much of it.”
Moroney was also invited to perform with Chesney at all of his shows, a true pinch-me moment that she got to experience over and over again.
“When I go on stage with Kenny Chesney in a stadium and I sing with him? I grew up listening to him,” Moroney recalled. “And we sing ‘You and Tequila’ and ‘All the Pretty Girls’ together every night and those moments still surprise me every week. Or I’ll be side stage and I literally turn around and I’m like, ‘Holy crap, that’s Kenny Chesney.’ And I’m literally friends with him.”
Moroney’s sophomore Am I Okay? album was released in July. Find all of her music and upcoming shows at MeganMoroney.com.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of EB Media