Kenny Chesney is one of country music’s most celebrated live performers, but in a recent interview, he admitted that even he has his limits when it comes to how fans interact with him at his live shows — and one such encounter went south in a big hurry.
During an appearance on Howard Stern’s show, Chesney recalled the time that he “snapped” and ended up punching a fan who violated his personal space during a concert with Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh.
Why Did Kenny Chesney Punch a Fan at a Show?
“We were in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” Chesney recalled. “I was playing the Steelers football stadium and I thought it was cool to come up in the middle of the stadium, and almost like a boxer in a way, like walk through the crowd to the stage—that kind of thing.”
As Chesney recounts, his security got way head of him in the crowd, leaving him vulnerable to approach.
“And all of a sudden I’m by myself on my way to the stage and I see this guy coming. I can just see him out the peripheral and walking to the stage,” Chesney shared.
[He] picks me up with his arms right at my knees and holds me up. And I just snapped, and I just I hit him right in the mouth.
The Country Music Hall of Famer told Stern that his first thought in that moment was that the fan might sue him for “every penny that I made tonight,” but Walsh had a much more laid-back take on the incident after the concert.
READ MORE: Kenny Chesney Credits Football Icons for Reigniting His Career
“We’re backstage after the show and Joe’s on the bus…So, I said, ‘Joe, did you see what happened at the beginning of the show?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, ‘Well, what would you do if somebody had picked you up like that?’ He goes, ‘I would have asked him to take me to the stage.'”
What Is Kenny Chesney’s New Book?
Chesney’s appearance on the Stern show was part of a media blitz in support of his new autobiography, Heart Life Music, which reached No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller list in Hardcover Non-Fiction.
What Is Kenny Chesney Doing in 2026?
Cheney is slated to continue his Las Vegas residency at the Sphere in 2026, but there are big changes coming to the show in the new year.
“We have to change it some. Half the show’s probably gonna be completely different and we’re gonna change some of it. There are some songs that we haven’t done in awhile that we’re gonna do,” Chesney revealed during a segment on No Shoes Radio.
Look through Kenny Chesney’s best songs over the decades in the gallery below.
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
