Kenny Chesney is back at the top of the charts, again. The East Tennessee native just scored his 33rd No. 1 hit with “Take Her Home,” the debut single from his BORN album, out in March. Chesney is celebrating the milestone while on his Sun Goes Down Tour, playing stadiums all over the country.
“It’s an amazing feeling, hearing the people singing it back to us,” Chesney says of “Take Her Home.” “It reminds you how these songs really do hold pieces of actual lives inside them, how deeply people feel these records; they’re more than hits. But when you get that call, and they tell you it’s No. 1, you realize how many people are seeing themselves on the radio. To me, that’s why I started doing this.”
Chesney is no stranger to headlining massive shows, playing in stadiums for more than a decade. But even he admits his current tour is something special, unlike anything he has seen in the past.
“The energy and passion I’m feeling this summer is a whole new level,” the 56-year-old says. “That heart and soul is so strong, it takes these songs to places we didn’t always realize they went. Last week when I was sick, they really brought it and sang with me in a way that changed everything.
“And it’s in songs like ‘Take Her Home,’ the ones that slow things down, where that desire to be in the moment really stands out,” he continues. “So, to stand onstage at [Chicago’s] Soldier Field and tell those fans their lives are No. 1, that this song is like them hitting the top of the charts? I can’t wait.”
Written by HARDY, Hunter Phelps and Zach Abend, “Take Her Home” was penned with Chesney in mind, a factor Chesney acknowledges doesn’t always work in his favor.
“You hear that a lot when people send you songs. ‘We wrote a song with you in mind.,’” Chesney said on Audacy’s Superstar Power Hour (via American Songwriter). “Sometimes it resonates and sometimes it don’t.”
Fortunately, this time it worked well, and Chesney knew as soon as he heard it that it was the missing piece to make BORN complete.
“I went, ‘Wow! I’ve been looking for this for a while,’” Chesney remembered. “It’s one of those life-moment songs. I just felt like, in my head, I knew that it was very well done … I knew that there would be a part of this song that would really resonate with [my fans].”
“I drove around in my car and I listened to it over and over,” he continued. “I bet I listened to it 15 times in a row. And, I said ‘If I hear this on the radio by someone else, I’m gonna be really mad at myself.’”
Watch the video for “Take Her Home” here.
Chesney is joined on his Sun Goes Down Tour by Zac Brown Band, Megan Moroney and Uncle Kracker. Find “Take Her Home” and all of Chesney’s music and upcoming shows at KennyChesney.com.
Kenny Chesney’s Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour Dates:
June 15 Chicago, Ill. || Soldier Field
June 20 Noblesville, Ind. || Ruoff Music Center^
June 22 Milwaukee, Wisc. || American Family Field
June 27 Darien Center, N.Y. || Darien Lake Amphitheater^
June 29 Cincinnati, Ohio || TQL Stadium*
July 6 Kansas City, Mo. || GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
July 11 Boise, Idaho || Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater^
July 13 Seattle, Wash. || Lumen Field
July 16 Salt Lake City, Utah || America First Field*
July 18 Wheatland, Calif. || Toyota Amphitheatre^
July 20 Los Angeles, Calif. || SoFi Stadium
July 24 Phoenix, Ariz. || Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre^
July 27 Denver, Colo. || Empower Field at Mile High Stadium
Aug. 3 Nashville, Tenn. || Nissan Stadium
Aug. 8 Columbus, Ohio || Historic Crew Stadium*
Aug. 10 Detroit, Mich. || Ford Field
Aug. 15 Bangor, Maine || Maine Savings Amphitheater^
Aug. 17 East Rutherford, N.J. || MetLife Stadium
Aug. 23 Foxborough, Mass. || Gillette Stadium
Aug. 24 Foxborough, Mass. || Gillette Stadium
Aug. 25 Foxborough, Mass. || Gillette Stadium
* Megan Moroney and Uncle Kracker only
^ Megan Moroney only