Kenny Chesney is notorious for writing country party anthems, and several have served him well over the years. Whenever Christmas comes around, though, we know there's one song in particular that probably crosses his mind.
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That would be his song, "Out Last Night", which he wrote with hitmaker Brett James several years back. Apparently, the songwriter was getting ready for Christmas when he got an invite to join Chesney in the Virgin Islands.
"I was standing in my kitchen, like at 4:30 in the afternoon on Christmas Eve," he shared in an interview. "My cell phone rang... it was a flip phone back then. I flipped open the phone, and it said 'blocked'."
James explained, "The only reason I picked it up was because it said blocked, because in our business if it says unknown you don't pick it up, I'm not going to pick up for anybody on Christmas Eve, but it said blocked, and in our business, at the time, if it said blocked, usually it meant it was somebody famous".
Turns out, that somebody was Chesney. "So I did pick up, and the voice on the other end of the line said, 'Hey Man', and I said, 'Hey man', and he literally said, 'Hey Man', I said 'Hey Man', we did that for a little while, and he finally said, 'what are you doing the day after tomorrow?'" James explained, "Now, it's 4:30 in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, and I have four children under the age of twelve at the time. So of course I said, 'Well, nothing, man! What you got in mind?'"
Little did he know that he and Chesney would write two No. 1 hits in the next 48 hours. One of these was "Out Last Night", and the other was Chesney's song "Reality".
Kenny Chesney Posted Heartfelt Message After Brett James' Death
Brett James and Kenny Chesney had a unique friendship, one that would lead to over 40 songs and countless memories. Earlier this year, James passed away in a deadly plane crash, and Chesney had this to say about his creative partner.
"I haven't wanted to post cause I didn't want to believe it. Brett and I shared a unique bond. A Brotherhood. A kinship," he shared in an Instagram post on September 22.
"We had a lot of authentic life fun writing songs together over the years, and I'm sure going to miss it." Chesney continued, "It's hard to process his creative soul being gone. This kind of loss. I feel as if part of my creative soul went with him. It will be a void in my life and creativity forever. I've never known writing songs or being on the road without him."
Take a listen to the song they wrote together, "Out Last Night" here.
Photo by: John Salangsang/Shutterstock
