Kenny Chesney has had 32 No. 1 singles, but one of them he now admits wasn’t his favorite, at least at first. The Tennessee native released “The Good Stuff” 22 years ago this week, a song written by Craig Wiseman and Jim Collins, included on his sixth studio album, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, and one he definitely did not initially want to include on the 12-track record.
“I hated it, but my record label loved it,” Chesney said on Big D & Bubba‘s radio show. “And look, I love it now. It was a seven-week No. 1 record. Huge record for me. But it felt like that it just touched on every single thing you could touch on to get someone to like a song. Puppies and light rain days. But soon after it was released I went ‘Okay, I give in. This thing is on fire.'”
At the time, Chesney had already established himself as a headliner, and wanted a song that would be more suited for his live shows than a ballad.
“I wanted to release a really rocking song that I know my audience … that will go over live,” Chesney explains. “I’m in this space; we had ‘Young,’ we had all these songs out. And I went, ‘I don’t want to slow it down with this.’ And then it was just one of the biggest records of my life, so I was obviously wrong.”
Chesney certainly hasn’t been lacking hits in the more than two decades since “The Good Stuff” was released. The 56-year-old just tied a record held by George Strait by achieving his 61st Top 10 hit with “Take Her Home,” the debut single from his latest BORN album.
“When I heard ‘Take Her Home,’ I just laughed,” Chesney said when the song was released. “It was everything life is made of in less than four minutes. It’s true, honest and all the stuff that’s easy to forget. All those details and little moments? The deep-cut Cheap Trick, the black-and-pink suitcase in the back of the truck, a seven-pound, five-ounce baby?”
“That’s what makes these kinds of life changes what they are,” he continued. “And it’s funny: no matter what stage you’re in, you really are always scared. That’s how you know it’s gonna be worth it.”
Chesney is currently on his Sun Goes Down Tour, joined on the road by Zac Brown Band, Megan Moroney and Uncle Kracker.
“It’s wonderful to walk out there and see those people truly care about the experience of it all, go through a lot be able to be in the audience today,” Chesney told Audacy’s Rob + Holly. “To be able to come to anybody’s show, you have to go through a lot to get there. And the fact that they care that much, makes us very happy. We’re getting ready to start that again … We’re going to go throughout the country and get to see their faces again. That’s always a great thing.”
Chesney’s Sun Goes Down Tour will conclude with three shows at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on August 23, 24 and 25. Find all of Chesney’s music and tour dates at KennyChesney.com.