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Kenny Chesney’s ‘Born’ Had No ‘Master Plan’

Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

Kenny Chesney releases his long-awaited Born album today (3/22). It’s been four years since his last album release, and in that time, he held some song camps with good friends.

Didn’t See Album Coming

Kenny told us that he didn’t see the new album coming. He spent the time since the world shut down playing music with friends, writing, listening to songs he loved, and recording when the moment struck with longtime collaborator Buddy Cannon.

He noted, “I can’t call it a ‘process’ because we never set out to make a record, just explore songs and moments for the sake of music. All of a sudden, time had passed, and somehow, we had all these songs that looked like different pieces of who I – and just about everyone in No Shoes Nation, too – am.”

No Master Plan

Chesney continued, “It wasn’t a master plan. There was no theme we were singing about that held it together. But if you listen to all 15 songs, you’ll get the high-energy fun, chasing adventures, don’t let people get you down, and you’ll get the more reflective thinking about someone who’s died, the person you know you shouldn’t call emotions that have always been in the music, too.”

RELATED: Kenny Chesney: An Album Release Interview His Way

The Songs

Kenny explained, “Making music to make music, suddenly there’s room for a few road trip songs like ‘One More Sunset’ or ‘Just To Say We Did,’ songs that sound like me and my buddies growing up. And you don’t worry as much about having a few songs that are more introspective or looking at the tough spots of letting go like ‘Thinkin’ Bout’ and ‘Come Here, Go Away,’ which everyone’s lived through.”

Truth About Living

He concluded, “When you listen to ‘Born,’ there’s a whole lot of truth about living, life, the big questions, and what we’re all trying to experience. That banjo out front really throws you into the song, which feels great. I love a lyric that throws out all the options, but it never actually tells you what to do. Here it comes down to one existential truth, no matter who you are or what you’re chasing: ‘One thing’s for certain, we’ve all been living since the day we were born.'”

5 of Country Music's Shortest Marriages

  • Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts - 1993-1995 (639 days)

    This couple was married in an Indiana church in 1993 when Julia was one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Lyle scored a few country hits over the years, including a top ten on the Billboard Country Songs Chart in 1986 with “Cowboy Man.” When the couple announced their divorce, they said: “We remain close and in great support of each other.”

  • Carly Pearce and Michael Ray - 2019-2020 (282 Days)

    This couple was all anyone, including Carly and Michael, could talk about leading up to their 2019 October wedding at the Grand Ole Opry. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Pearce filed for divorce in June 2020. She talked to the media about the breakup, but most of her feelings about the marriage and divorce can be found in the songs on her 29 Written In Stone album. She said of the album in a statement, “What you hear in this project is every stage of a relationship ending, the realization, the grief, the anger, the confusion…as soon as I could see all of these songs, I saw the pieces that they represented, and I felt like it was finished.”

  • Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth - 2018-2019 (239 Days)

    While Miley has made herself known as a world pop star, she is country music royalty as she was born in 1992 during her father Billy Ray Cyrus’ massive success in country music. Miley and Liam met while filming the movie The Last Song in 2009. The couple broke up and got back together many times before they wed in 2018. Hemsworth filed for divorce in 2019, and the couple’s divorce became final in early 2020.

    Released in 2023, many of Cyrus’s fans speculate that her song “Flowers” was about Liam.

  • Kenny Chesney and Renee Zellweger - 2005 (128 Days)

    One of country music’s most talked about short marriages, Kenny and Renee met at NBC’s Concert of Hope tsunami aid telethon. The couple started dating and then wed in the Virgin Islands just four months after they met. When the shocking marriage ended as quickly as it had started, the couple released a joint statement saying, in part, “The miscommunication of the objective of their marriage at the start is the only reason for this annulment. Renée and Kenny value and respect each other and are saddened that their different objectives prevent the success of this marriage.”

  • Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson - 2006 (122 Days)

    Kid Rock and Pamela wed “officially” on a yacht in St. Topez; the couple then had a second ceremony in Beverly Hills and then even a third at a bar in Nashville. The couple first met in 2001 at a VH1 Aretha Franklin tribute. They became engaged in 2002, broke it off, rekindled, and re-engaged in 2006. Pamela announced their pending divorce on her social media, saying at the time, the couple just did not belong together.

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.

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Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group
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