CMA Entertainer Ascends Into ACM Triple Crown Club With The Win
Las Vegas: There was plenty of time for speeches when Barbara Mandrell announced Kenny Chesney as this year's Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year -- and the boy from Luttrell, Tennessee, who'd sung the achingly yearning song of lasting love from a moment "Anything But Mine," took the stage to acknowledge all the people who'd been part of his 12 year rise to the top. In addition to winning the night's biggest prize, last night's award made him only the 6th person in history to win the Academy's Triple Crown of Best New Male/Female/Group, Best Male/Female/Group or Duo and Entertainer of the Year."When I was walking off the stage, Barbara whispered in my ear about the Triple Crown," says Chesney, truly awed by the honor and the moment, "and I just had to stop for a second. Winning Entertainer of the Year is a pretty big deal to me -- because I think it's everything that me and the people around me are so committed to: connecting and rocking those fans, but that put it in a whole other light. Because it's not just about being Entertainer of the Year, which is huge, it's about being a part of history, being in a very special club with some very artists who really shaped and changed our music and the growth that we've taken years to achieve.
"Being one of such an amazing six pack makes you stop and think about everything country music means, the people it speaks to... and it's one of those things that you go, 'ME?!' because, you know, there's still so much that I dream and want to accomplish."
Rounding out the Triple Crown winners are Brooks & Dunn, the Dixie Chicks, Mickey Gilley, Merle Haggard and Mandrell. Chesney will be honored along with his peers in this elite group on "The 40th Anniversary of the Academy of Country Music" special, slated to air later this year. In addition to performing "Marina Del Ray" in a segment honoring George Strait for the most Male Vocalist Wins, Chesney appears as the newest recipient of the Academy's highest honor.
"I go onstage at 9:15 every night, but the show really starts at 2:30 every day when the fans get to the parking lot and start cooking out and tail-gating," said the man who now holds the top Entertainer of the Year honor from both the ACM and the Country Music Association in his acceptance speech, who also honored his label, managers, musicians, crew and truck drivers.
"I've had a buncha time to think about what I wanted to say -- and all the people who've contributed to helping me make all this happen," said the singer/songwriter, "cause let me just tell you: this doesn't happen alone. I've been blessed with an amazing team, and even more than being the best at what they do, these are people who care deeply about me, who love my dream and are committed to this the same way I am. When I think about that, it really makes me see how blessed I am."
With Be As You Are: Songs From An Old Blue Chair becoming his third #1 Billboard all-genre Top 200 debut -- without the benefit of a single or a tour, "Anything But Mine" becoming the third multiple week #1 single from his almost quadruple platinum CMA Album of the Year When The Sun Goes Down and his Somewhere In The Sun Tour on track to outperform last year's 1.4-million-tickets-sold Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lot of Love Tour -- which was only outdrawn by Prince's Musicology Tour, Kenny Chesney is on a roll. With three stadium shows coming - June 4 in Washington, DC, July 23 in Boston and July 30 in Pittsburgh -- the book-ended Entertainer of the Year embodies the kid in the lawn grown up to be the star he'd always revered.
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