“When We Started, I Didn't Truly Believe I Had a Story to Tell”: Kenny Chesney Celebrates His Book Topping The New York Times Best Seller Lists

A chart-topper in a whole new field.

Kenny Chesney's first ever book, HEART*LIFE*MUSIC, has surged to the pinnacle of two prestigious New York Times Best Seller lists. The stellar new project, which Chesney co-wrote with his good friend, Holly Gleason, has topped the Hardcover Nonfiction and Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction Best Seller rankings.

In an official statement, the No Shoes Nation figurehead has endearingly expressed his surprise at the achievement, “When our editor sent a text asking to Zoom. I figured he wanted to let us down easy. After all, The New York Times is such a big deal…Everybody wants to be part of, if not number one on their Best Sellers lists. Rather than send an email, obviously, he was going to soften the news”.

Chesney then get candid about the doubts he felt when beginning this unique journey with Gleason, “When we started, I didn’t truly believe I had a story to tell. When you’re living it, especially at the speed we’ve been at for so many years, you don’t make a lot of connections. If writing a song is looking at a moment through a straw, then this is looking at a bunch of years through a fish-eye lens. It’s so wide open, and you have to make decisions about what you’re looking at”.

The Knoxville native pays tribute to his co-writer, and credits Gleason with playing a key role in keeping him inspired and motivated during the process, “Holly had a sense or belief going in. We would talk for hours, break for lunch, talk more – and she would go off and think. Then we’d start again the next day. I knew two things: I wanted anyone with a dream to see how, step-by-step, you can build it if you’ll be patient, and to make sure all the people and places that were so important to me were written down and remembered for all the magic they were”.

The ‘Just To Say We Did’ singer-songwriter concludes with a heartfelt message for his loyal No Shoes Nation fanbase, “Having been out on the book tour, which is a very different thing, I realized this crazy magic carpet ride, as much as my music, is something that belongs to the fans. I said every night, ‘You have to really love somebody to listen to them talk.’ I can tell you: every night, I really felt loved”.

In a separate statement shared across socials, the country icon has offered some more words of thanks to Gleason, toasting, “Today I have to say thank you and congratulations to my friend and cowriter @HollyGleason615. Cause last night we found out that our book Heart, Life, Music was number 1 on the New York Times best sellers list. I am so proud of you Holly. Writing this book has taken us down a lot of roads and to a lot of different places that have made a profound impact on my life. I’m so grateful I got to take this journey with you. We were supposed to write this book together and I’m so proud of it and you”.

He extends his gratitude to his HarperCollins team and also to the wider crew that have kept the momentum strong behind this book, “Thanks to @Maurodp1 (Mauro Dipreta), Liate Stehlik, Heidi Richter and everyone at @HarperCollins for the opportunity. I just can’t believe this happened and I appreciate your passion and hard work. Thanks also to @David_Vigliano for being a part of the journey and to my new friend @AdrianaTrigiani for your passion. What a joy all this has been”.

It's no mean feat, and we're glad to see the fervent response that has met HEART*LIFE*MUSIC. The body of work serves both as a collection of vibrant, variegated postcards from Chesney's fascinating travels over the years, as well as a guidebook of sorts, helping fans to embrace the sunny joie de vivre and optimism that underpins the ‘No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems’ hitmaker's expansive discography.

Holler is proud to be throwing an event celebrating the UK release of Kenny Chesney and Holly Gleason's HEART*LIFE*MUSIC on Friday, November 21st at London's honky-tonk bar, The Dukes of Highgate. With this fantastic news that the book has topped not one but two New York Times Best Seller lists, it's safe to say there'll be plenty of cause for celebration during our tropically-tinged extravaganza.

Signed copies of Kenny Chesney's new book, HEART*LIFE*MUSIC, are available to purchase below:

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