“You've Been Such a Good Friend”: Keith Urban's Heartwarming Tribute to Kenny Chesney After a Wildly Successful Year

As exciting as it is when huge artists like Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson and Zach Bryan announce blockbuster tours, what we find even more fascinating is each artist's choice of opening acts. On tours as colossal as these, the support roster is often a great gauge of who's lined up to be the next wave of country stars.

We see evidence of this throughout country music history, with every stadium headliner, chart-topper and Entertainer of the Year winner, naturally, having to start as an opener.

It's hard to imagine a time when Keith Urban, one of country's most respected figures, was in this position. But back in 2004, the Australian singer-songwriter was recruited to open for Kenny Chesney on his Guitars, Tiki Bars and a Whole Lotta Love run.

Chesney is a true legend of the genre to this day, but in the 2000s, he was at the pinnacle of country music, winning four ACM and CMA Entertainer of the Year gongs from 2004 to 2008. In fact, highlighting just what a fantastic tour this was, the only other person to win an Entertainer of the Year award during this period was Keith Urban in 2005, while he was still serving as an opener on Chesney's tour - a moment he fondly recalled recently while on Blake Shelton's The Road TV show.

Heartwarmingly, despite this apparent rivalry at the awards show, it's always been nothing but love between Urban and Chesney. In the latter's special cover edition of Billboard in 2007, for instance, which featured an array of articles and tributes from fellow artists celebrating the ’No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems’ hitmaker's wildly successful streak, Urban penned a kind message honouring his former tour-mate.

Alongside a photo of Urban performing on Chesney's sold-out tour, the former began by joking, “Someone said we get paid for this as well... is that true????”, before expressing his sincere gratitude, “Thanks for inviting me into your HUGE family, Kenny”.

Urban concluded on a personal note, underlining how much he values Chesney's support and encouragement, “You've been such a good friend to me and I, too, want to congratulate you and your awesome gang on all of your monumental achievements”. The ‘Cop Car’ crooner fondly added, “Your good mate always”.

It's no secret that Chesney's crew and loyal No Shoes Nation fanbase feels like a family, with each group unified by the sunshine, optimism and joie-de-vivre he laces into his music.

Urban went on to win CMA Entertainer of the Year once more in 2018 and ACM equivalent in 2019, with the trailblazing artist remaining a hugely respected figure in Music City.

We're hoping we get to see these two titans of the genre reuniting at some point for a blockbuster collaboration, with Chesney and Urban having linked up on stage on a number of occasions since that 2004 tour, such at Nashville's hallowed Ryman in 2005.

For more on Kenny Chesney, see below: