From People magazine: Kenny Chesney Shares His ‘Favorite’ Memory About Late Friend Jimmy Buffett in New Book
As the old adage says, never meet your heroes — unless, of course, they’re Jimmy Buffett.
For country icon Kenny Chesney, that was exactly the case. The late Buffett, who died in September 2023, was not only a mentor to Chesney but a lifelong friend, too. Chesney, 57, sat down with PEOPLE ahead of the release of his new book Heart Life Music (out Nov. 4 from William Morrow), in which he writes about what he calls his “favorite Jimmy story.”
“When I went to my first Jimmy Buffet show, I had just moved to Nashville, and I had no money. It was pouring rain, and I was up in the grass [at Starwood Amphitheater] where you go when you can’t afford a real seat. But that night changed my life because I’d never seen anything like it, for someone to give so much love from the stage and connect with an audience like that. I was lying in bed at night going, ‘Wow, I can’t believe what I just saw,'” Chesney tells PEOPLE for a story in this week’s print issue.
“And then you fast-forward, and it’s surreal that you become friends with that person and collaborate with that person in the studio and have that person just really inspire you. And that’s what Jimmy was for me,” he adds. “You have people that create space for you to do your own thing, and Jimmy was one of those people.”
After first meeting by the pool at a Four Seasons Hotel, Chesney and Buffett became fast friends and frequent collaborators. They teamed up in 2018 for a newer version of “Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season” for Chesney’s Songs for the Saints record, after 14 years prior, recording Buffett’s famous “License to Chill” — a track born out of a Key West Christmas that the two spent celebrating together (see excerpt below).
“He was so childlike. And I always really appreciated him doing that because he didn’t have to — I got to see a part of Key West through Jimmy’s eyes. And we were really good friends after that day,” Chesney recalls.
In Heart Life Music, Chesney delves into his life and career, featuring everything from stories about Buffett to a behind-the-scenes look at how some of his greatest hits came to be. He also details his journey from small-town Tennessee to some of the biggest stages in the country and what life on the road for more than 30 years is really like.
Available at Amazon – Heart Life Music – Kenny Chesney with Holly Gleason
“I felt like that if I didn’t take a moment to reflect on what’s happened to me and my band and my road family, that I might not ever do it,” says Chesney, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Oct. 19.
After Buffett’s death, Chesney paid tribute to his friend at the 2023 Country Music Association Awards with a rendition of “A Pirate Looks at Forty” alongside Mac McAnally. The “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems” singer also performed at Buffett’s posthumous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2024, where he teamed up again with McAnally as well as James Taylor for a version of “Come Monday.”
“He taught me it was possible to paint pictures with words,” Chesney tells PEOPLE now of Buffett. “What a gift.”
Heart Life Music will be published on Nov. 4 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold. Chesney will also kick off his 10-stop Heart Life Music book tour on Nov. 1 in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Read the full article at People magazine: Kenny Chesney Shares His ‘Favorite’ Memory About Late Friend Jimmy Buffett in New Book