Kenny Chesney
As a Sony Music artist, the singer-songwriter has sold more than 30 million albums and scored nearly 40 Top 5 singles, including 23 Number One hits. Among the many awards he's received: the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award, in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Chesney's most recent album, "Life on a Rock," hit Number 1 on the Billboard 200 and Country Album charts.
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan
In 2013 Chesney was asked by CBS News correspondent Don Dahler whether the musician's recording and touring schedules ever feel like a job.
"Nothing feels like a job!" he laughed. "Is it stressful? Yes. Is it exhausting sometimes? It's exhausting a lot. And does it take a lot of focus? Yes. Does it take a lot of sacrifice? Yes. Does it take everything out of you if you do it at this level? Yes. Is it hard work? It's more work than people imagine."
Left: Singer Kenny Chesney performs on stage during the 30th Annual American Music Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on January 13, 2003 in Los Angeles, California.
Born in 1968 in Knoxville, Tenn., Chesney is the son of an elementary school teacher and a hair stylist. It wasn't until he graduated from high school that he received his first guitar and began teaching himself to play.
Left: An undated photo of young singer-songwriter Kenny Chesney performing in Nashville.
In a 2007 interview with HitQuarters, Troy Tomlinson, President/CEO of Sony/ATV Publishing, recalled meeting Chesney in 1992, upon which he signed him to a songwriting contract. "First of all I was attracted to the songs, because I thought that he painted great pictures in his lyrics, particularly for someone who had not been around the typical Music Row co-writes. I thought that he sang very well, too. But more than anything there was a kind of this 'I will do it' look in his eyes. I was really drawn in by the fact that he was so set on being successful in this business."
To date, Chesney has recorded 15 albums and released four compilations.
"I do sell fun. I know we do that. There's no doubt about it," Chesney told Anderson Cooper of "60 Minutes" in 2007. "And I will admit that I have allowed my love for the tropics to get into my music."
Left: Singer Kenny Chesney performs onstage at the 2007 CMT Music Awards at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University April 16, 2007 in Nashville, Tennessee.
"You go and sit down with these people whose lives have been changed instantly and really through no fault of their own . . . I left there, honestly, inspired by their stories and what they go through on a day-in and day-out basis now," Chesney told CBS News' Don Dahler.
"I use sports analogies a lot. When you're playing sports, as in life, you're faced with adversity every day. And you don't know where it's gonna come from or how. But they are the definition, the people that I talked to, and especially the hospital staff. I could tell that they really appreciated the fact that we're doing what we're doing.
"I do believe that music has the ability to give people hope, to heal people. I think music is the most powerful thing that we have. I think sports and music bring people together like nothing else does."
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By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan