Backstage Country

Kenny Chesney Announces His First Book

Kenny Chesney will release his first book, Heart, Life, Music, on November 4, 2025. The book will be a take on the superstar’s journey from a small-town East Tennessee dreamer…

Kenny Chesney sits on a white seat in a white t-shirt, hat, and shorts on the beach.
Photo - Danny Clinch

Kenny Chesney will release his first book, Heart, Life, Music, on November 4, 2025. The book will be a take on the superstar’s journey from a small-town East Tennessee dreamer to commanding the largest stages across the nation.

Kenny said in a statement, "This is not my memoir, but something far better. It is almost a love letter to people who shaped and inspired me, 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."

He added, "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.”

Raised largely by a single mother and extended family, Chesney’s life was built on sports, church, community and music. A gift of a guitar his freshman year was the start of his journey to becoming one of country music's biggest stars.

The singer admits, "I always said I’d never write a book. 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."

He concluded, "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, to be in [legendary reggae studio] Tuff Gong Studios with Aston 'Family Man' Barrett and Alvin 'Seeco' Patterson (Jamaican musicians) or on a private plane with George Jones after opening for him defies logic. So, for everyone in No Shoes Nation, I realized: you deserved to share the magic."

Written with longtime friend and collaborator Holly Gleason, Heart, Life, Music will celebrate the life and rise of Kenny from the road, stage, quiet moments, and thrills.

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.