Kenny Chesney August 20, 2011

A four-time winner of the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year award, Chesney has sold more tickets — 8.8 million — than any other act since 1999 except the Dave Matthews Band. As a performer, he says he approaches arenas and stadiums differently.

"Mentally, I love the energy of an arena. In a way, it's louder. You can have so much more people in a stadium but the sound goes away. But when you get an excitable bunch in an arena, their sound stays there. I love that."

Offstage, the 43-year-old feels his maturation is manifested in his song choices for last fall's album "Hemingway's Whiskey." He figures he wouldn't have recorded Guy Clark's reflective title song four years ago, or tackled the sobering "You and Tequila" (by Deana Carter and Matraca Berg), done as a quiet duet with Vermont soul rocker Grace Potter.

"I'm glad I'm at a point in my life where I understand what those songs mean," he said. "But I still love edgy, and I still record songs for the sole purpose of making my show great."

Raised in tiny Luttrell, Tenn., the birthplace of legendary picker Chet Atkins, the star had "eclectic musical tastes." "When I was in high school, it was the hair-band era, so I had all that stuff in my truck. Then again, I also loved singer-songwriters. I loved Johnny Cash, Jimmy Buffett. Music has always been medicine to me."

As a result, Chesney's two-hour show is a spectacle of volume and swagger, a randy, skin-friendly throwdown that also features moments of genuine acoustic heart, especially when he sings songs such as 2004's There Goes My Life.

For as much as Chesney is in tune with what his fans crave in concert, he doesn't pay much mind to fan club chat on Facebook or Twitter: "I'm one of those people who thinks that the Internet is the devil. I don't have time to constantly tell people what I'm thinking and what I'm eating." Privacy is at a premium, Chesney says. "And mine's not for sale."

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