Heart Life Music
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER
Heart Life Music is a love letter to the journey: all the places I’ve gone and how we got here. This book takes you on the ride.
Knoxville. Moscow. Myrtle Beach. The Virgin Islands. Plentywood, Montana. Holmdel, New Jersey. Key West. New England. The Road. No Shoes Nation. Beyond.
We’ve had a lot of fun, a bunch of challenges, a few moments of wondering “what the hell?”—and more love than any artist deserves. You’re gonna meet so many people, some you’d never expect to see crossing my path, whether it’s the Wailers, Willie Nelson, John Madden, or Grace Potter. Maybe you won’t be surprised at all. I just know this: A whole lot has happened.
For anyone who’s found a piece of your life in any of my songs, this is for you. Open a cold drink, get out on your deck or your boat or wherever your happy space is, jump in, and live them along with me.
And if you’ve got dreams, whatever they are, know they don’t always come easy. But if you believe, do the hard work, and keep coming back, you’d be amazed at what can happen. I’m a pretty average guy, so look at this—know you might could do it, too.
It’s been a helluva trip around the sun.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
One of country music’s biggest superstars opens up and brings you candidly inside his world. Kenny Chesney says that this heartfelt, unguarded book is less of a memoir and more of a love letter to everyone who has been affected by his music. The superstar charmed us with his memories of coming up in tiny, rural Luttrell, Tennessee, where there were no streetlights but plenty of stars in the sky. And we were swept up in his reverie as he recalls falling under the spell of honky tonk heroes like Merle Haggard and George Jones, as well as his own dear friend Jimmy Buffett. As he chronicles the journey from singing in Nashville bars to filling stadiums, we could feel his increasing sense of wonderment right along with him. This honest read is a great reminder that even an utterly non-salacious celebrity memoir can be captivating.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this down-to-earth memoir, Chesney traces his ascent from small-town Tennessee to country music stardom. He describes an all-American childhood dominated by "school, church, sports, and family" and music that reflected community values ("It was about life, hard work, falling in love to last, and throwing down on the weekends"). While studying advertising at East Tennessee State University, he began playing music with students in the school's bluegrass program. Chesney was not a natural talent—he was nicknamed "timing," for his lack of it—but he was determined to improve and moved to Nashville after graduation, where he played at bars until he landed a songwriting job. He debuted with 1994's In My Wildest Dreams, embarking on a career of stadium tour after stadium tour, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2025. Chesney takes care to honor his roots throughout, giving due to the industry professionals and "road family" who helped him succeed and interspersing uplifting if predictable musings on how music brings people together ("I know no matter what football stadium or amphitheater, the teams they love are different, who they voted for isn't the same.... But the songs, that feeling they give us, they connect us"). Country music fans will be satisfied.
