Kenny Chesney is mourning the loss of someone close to him. The country music superstar shared an emotional post on social media, bidding a final farewell to his good friend.
“So a very hard goodbye to a close island friend, Curtney Chinnery AKA ‘The Ghost From Jost,'” Chesney writes. “He was a part of island life for so many years. Someone I thought would just always be there. He was so curious and full of imagination and one of the most creative human beings I’ve ever met. That’s how we connected. Creativity. He was a poet among poets and I’m gonna miss him for so many reasons. So goodbye my brother and thank you for your friendship and all the laughs. ‘GHOST OUT.'”
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Chesney considers the islands his home away from home, and is where he chooses to reside when he is not on tour. The East Tennessee native lost his home on St. John, part of the Virgin Islands, in 2017 during the devastating and deadly Hurricane Irma.
“That was a tough thing for me. I didn’t have a lot of communication with anyone that I cared about for several days,” Chesney recalled at the time. “To live in that moment, not knowing if everything was okay and everybody was alive, was really hard.”
“Everybody was scared,” he added. “There was no internet, no cell towers, no power. I wanted to fly down the day after and take some supplies and get some people off, but we couldn’t. They had to clear the runways.”
In true Chesney fashion, he immediately went to work helping those in need, staring the Love for Love City Foundation after the hurricane. He was also very instrumental in getting food and supplies into the island, as well as evacuating people who needed to leave.
Chesney won’t have much time to visit St. John anytime soon. The 56-year-old is currently headlining 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 recently 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.”
The 56-year-old just celebrated his 33rd No. 1 hit with“Take Her Home,” the debut single from BORN. He is back at radio with “Just To Say We Did.”
“Everywhere we went, everyone was asking for the same song,” Chesney said when the song was released. “Everybody wanted us to release ‘Just To Say We Did.’ It was insane how almost unanimous it was, but it’s also pretty much a perfect summer song. I mean, if there’s ever a time when you’re gonna get out of your comfort zone, do something crazy or unthinkable, it’s now.
“And the thing I loved about the song when we were putting BORN together was that idea of ‘shoot your shot!’ Whatever it is, forget the excuses – just do it!” he continued. “Don’t look down, don’t look back! Just jump into the moment and ride it for all it’s worth.”
Find all of Chesney’s music and upcoming shows at KennyChesney.com.
