Kenny Chesney Opens Up to Oprah
Kenny Chesney is stepping away from the stage and onto the screen. After becoming one of the top touring acts in history (raking in more than $742 million in concert revenue!), the four-time ACM Entertainer of the Year is now promoting not another album, but his movie debut, 'Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D.' The innovative film, which includes live concert footage shot at several stadium shows on his sold-out Sun City Carnival tour, earned Kenny a chat with Oprah Winfrey on Friday (April 9). The talk show queen asked the country superstar about everything from his hiatus from touring to his love life. Here are some of the highlights from their interview:
On why he filmed the movie: "I have such a unique relationship [with the fans]. It's a very unique love affair that I've had with them for a long time. There's a large group of people who grew up with me and have dreamed this dream with me, and were there when not too many people were there ... So many nights I'm up there on stage and I wish everybody out in the audience could see what I see and feel what I feel."
On his pre-show ritual: "I always go to the very top of the arena or wherever we're playing ... The people that are in the back are important, too. It's important for me to get up there, to see what they see and how far I have to go to touch that person. The first 20 rows -- I got them, but guys up there in the back, I want to be sure that they feel like they're in the first 10 rows, so I have to visually see it."
On why he's taking a break from touring: "I feel differently now, I promise. But there was something in the back of my mind that says, 'I don't know when, if ever, that I'll do this again' ... Music's not supposed to be that way. Music's supposed to come from the heart. I felt like that if it ever got mechanical, I was going to back away from it. And it did last year."
On his split from actress Renee Zellweger after only four months of marriage: "I panicked about a lot. I look at my life as a box ... So everything that I put in -- learn how to play guitar, put that in the box. The friends I made, I put that in the box, and my career grew. Everything around me -- all of the awards and all of the songs I wrote and all the success and everything -- I put that in that box. That box built and grew into this wonderful house. And you protect everything and all the relationships and all the people that helped you build that house. And, this is the first time I've actually talked about it, but that's what happened. I protected that box. I didn't know if I could do both. [The marriage] was out of the box. But it's really tough. And she's a sweet soul, no doubt about it, but I just wasn't ready."
On his current relationship status, after confirming that he is indeed in a relationship: "I do have time, but I'm busy. I'm running a radio station. I've got my life and everybody's lives around me. There are people building houses and having babies based on me not getting tired."
On if he would ever walk down the aisle again: "I always had the idea that marriage might make me lose my identity. I just don't know that I've found anybody bigger than that yet. I hope it happens. But that's the best way I can explain it."
On the future: "I would like to be married and have kids. I would like to do that ... Yes, I could see me settling down at some point."
On where he goes to get away: "Coming home is always a welcome break. I love that I can walk in and just be 12 years old again ... Being with my grandmother feeds my soul."
'Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D' hits theaters April 21.
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