Nashville, TN. (Sony BMG
Music Entertainment) - Personality Magazine Treats Chesney's Biggest Tour Ever as A Celebrity!
Seattle: They do weddings and babies and turning points in people's lives, as well as introducing readers to intriguing celebrities and people in the news. So if you're looking for a category to put People's whopping four pages on Kenny Chesney - the only country star to sell over a million tickets for the past four years and who followed the
Rolling Stones and U2 as last year's three biggest ticket sellers - or rather Kenny Chesney's The Road & The Radio 2006 Tour, it would probably have to be the latter.
'Yeah, I don't really think they cover things so much,' Kenny Chesney admits with a laugh. 'Although in some ways I feel more like a thing than these tours - because our tours always seem to have a life of their own… a personality… and their own energy. Besides, I think our tours are always a lot more interesting than I am.'
Having graced three covers of People last year alone, the editors might take exception with what the reigning back-to-back double Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year has to say. But it is true that the glossy celebrity news weekly did the unthinkable - sending a reporter to Seattle's Qwest Field to capture the vibe of the biggest show on 18 wheels this summer.
In addition to being the highest grossing concert in the history of Seattle, the sold-out and then-some nearly 50,000 show served as a perfect moment for those few people who still don't know what all the fuss is about. Halfway through his 54 cities, the man from Luttrell, Tennessee is definitely rocking.
'It's the most amazing rush in the world,' Chesney tells People about playing to football-stadium sized crowds. And to document the madness photographer Sarah A. Friedman, who's noted for her Vibe covers and up-in-the-action Sports Illustrated work, was enlisted to document the feel, the unseen moments and the excitement that has come to be the world's longest summer vacation in recorded history.
As 'Summertime' launches its 5th week at No 1 on Billboard's Country Singles Chart, The Road & The Radio gets ready to hit Nashville's stadium, then swing up to Madison Square Garden - which it sold out in less than an hour, and on to Boston, where tickets for Chesney's second straight show where the Patriots play were sold out 4 months before the concert even began setting up.
But in the meantime, for everyone who doesn't have a Kenny Chesney concert in their immediate future, there is this week's People - and four pages of fun, frolic and fans.
