Kenny Chesney is full of surprises in 2025. The singer, who just announced his Live at Sphere Las Vegas residency, reveals he has another big project in the works. Chesney's new book. Heart Life Music is coming out on November 4. Filled with stories from his childhood to becoming one of country music's biggest superstars of all time, Chesney insists the book is not a memoir.
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"This is not my memoir, but something far better. It is almost a love letter to people who shaped and inspired me," the East Tennessee native says. "The fans who've been there from tiny bars, radio stations who believed when nobody else did, a team who just kept coming back, legends who gave me wisdom and opportunities and all the friends who've been there along the way. To me, that's where the music came from - and this is the story of how it turned into the soundtrack for the way No Shoes Nation lives their lives, too."
Chesney is likely the most surprised that he has a book coming out. Even more surprising, Chesney is doing it to honor the past, in an industry that is ever-changing.
"I always said I'd never write a book," Chesney admits. "Too many things happened almost to be believed, let alone lived. But I realized with the world moving in such fast-forward motion, too much of what made Nashville, the music business and our lives great would be lost to the churn of the next click.
"To have been in a room as a kid writing with Dean Dillon, have Sean Payton call an NFL press conference to announce he's drafting me to the Saints ... or on a private plane with George Jones after opening for him defies logic," he adds. "So, for everyone in No Shoes Nation, I realized: you deserved to share the magic."
'Live at Sphere Las Vegas'
For now, most of Chesney's attention is towards his upcoming residency, which begins on May 22. It was in early 2024 when Chesney decided to do a residency, keeping it a secret until last month.
"The opportunity to perform at Sphere came about last April, actually," Chesney reveals. "I was doing a tribute show for Jimmy Buffett at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and my friend Irving Azoff, in my dressing room told me that I should be the first country act to play the Sphere. I really didn't know what I was going to do in 2025, but the opportunity to do this was just so great."
Chesney decided to do Live at Sphere because of his No Shoes Nation fan club. But even he says his Las Vegas show will be surprising to some.
"We have been shooting all new footage, learning new technology," Chesney says. "Thinking about the songs in a whole new way. I'm glad No Shoes Nation is as excited as we are. And because this is such a beyond the imagination experience, we're all going there together for the very first time."
Pre-order of Heart Life Music is available here.
