Kenny Chesney wants to make sure that three football legends get credit for pulling him out of a deep funk, earlier in his career.
Chesney was a guest on CBS Sunday Morning, where he explained that in 2009, he hit a mental and physical wall where he didn’t feel like he was making the music that he wanted to make and not connecting with his audience the way he once did.
Chesney says, “It took sports to get me out of that funk.”
The “Boys of Fall” singer said it was that song that moved the needle for him.
When he was recording it and filming the music video, he met with and interviewed many football legends to help him get in the mindset of where he needed to be.
“I needed Joe Namath, I needed Bill Parcels. I sat in Bobby Bowden’s living room and he talked to me like a deacon at a Baptist church.”
Chesney says it was right after those moments with those three football legends that he experienced a big change.
“Oh, I woke up one day and I said, ‘I’m back.'”
Part of what makes Chesney so great is his self-awareness.
The “Beer In Mexico” singer closes out the interview with an iconic line.
“It takes a certain amount of ego to be up there on stage and to do what I do, but I try really hard to leave that person up there” — meaning, he leaves his ego on stage, where it’s needed to thrive, and only hops back into it when he performs next.
When Was Kenny Chesney Inducted Into The Country Music Hall of Fame?
Kenny Chesney was officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Oct. 18, 2025.
How Old Is Kenny Chesney?
Kenny Chesney is 57 years old. He was born on March 26, 1968.
25 Best Kenny Chesney Songs That Prove He’s Country Music Hall of Fame Worthy
What truly separates Chesney — a 2025 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee — from other artists is his third act. Six of the 25 songs on this list of Kenny Chesney’s best were released after 2010. It’s there he took some of his biggest risks, rewarding fans with some of the greatest lyrical moments and sounds of the 21st century.
We ranked the Top 25 Kenny Chesney songs using chart data, streaming and airplay numbers and staff/reader opinion. The year listed alongside the title is the year it was released as a radio single. The No. 1 song on this list exemplifies the best of what the Tennessee native is capable of.
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
PICTURES: See Inside Kenny Chesney’s Spectacular $11.5 Million Tennessee Estate
Kenny Chesney has sold his 4-bedroom, 9-bathroom, 12,599-square-foot hilltop estate in Tennessee for $11.5 million, and pictures show an opulent Mediterranean villa that is lavish even by the standards of other celebrity mansions.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
