Las Vegas, NV. (Top40 Charts/ RCA Records) - He had sung his brand new 'Better As A Memory,' duetted with birthday boy
George Strait on their Academy of Country
Music Vocal Event nominated 'Shiftwork' and won the Vocal Event Award for 'Find Out Who Your
Friends Are' with
Tracy Lawrence and Tim McGraw, so it had already been a big night for Luttrell, Tennessee's Kenny Chesney, the three-consecutive and reigning Academy of Country
Music Entertainer of the Year. And that's when
Reba McEntire called out her good friend's name as Entertainer of the Year.
'It was an amazing feeling,' said the soft-spoken songwriter and superstar. 'You just never know … or want to take it for granted. You work as hard as you can, and you hope people notice. But you can never do this for - or expect - awards.'
With an Internet component in place to take Entertainer of the Year voting from the country music industry - radio professionals, managers, label executives, concert promoters and artists themselves - to the fans, the parameters of the Academy's highest honor shifted radically. Having built his career playing to the fans, Chesney understands how powerful the artist/fan connection is … and also how sacred.
'Entertainer is about sacrifice, about the work, about what goes into creating the music, the tour,' Chesney explained later that evening. 'For me, I don't want the fans considering how hard we work - or what goes into making this happen. I want them to come out and party with us; I want them to forget their troubles for a couple hours, to have the best time they may have all year and to maybe hear some of my songs on the radio and think, 'Hey, that's my life,' not 'Boy, he sure does put a lot of effort into all of this.' That makes their experience about me, not them, their friends, their lives and this music I've been making.'
Having played to over a million fans each of the past six summers - his 2007 Flip Flop Summer Tour not only brought country music to stadiums in Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Seattle last year, but it helped make Chesney the biggest ticket seller this century. His current Poets & Pirates Tour - sponsored by Corona Extra, who debuted a major TV spot starring the laidback musician last night - will hit 15 football stadiums this year, in addition to the usual arenas and amphitheatres.
'I try to be the artist I'd want to see,' Chesney explained. 'I know what rocked my world, heck, what rocks my world … and I just wanna be that for the fans who've been part of this ride. Their votes mean the world to me … because it means they are living these songs, these summers with us the way I used to with Springsteen, Van Halen, Jackson Browne, Keith Whitley. That's why I do what I do ... because I know how powerful that experience can be.'
Chesney returns to the road with two nights in Grand Rapids, Michigan, May 21-22, and then on to Cleveland, Ohio's Browns Stadium on May 24 'and you know I'm gonna thank 'em every night we're out there, over and over again.'
