Kenny Chesney

If Kenny Chesney laid a mission statement inside one of his good-time tunes, the last couplet from his 2018 single “Get Along” might be it: “Drink a beer, sing a song/Make a friend, can’t we all get along?” Born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1968, Chesney enjoys frequent comparisons to “Gulf-and-western” artist Jimmy Buffett thanks to his tropically tinted country music (his 1998 single “How Forever Feels” even name-drops the pirate himself). Chesney started off in the early ‘90s with a more clean-cut country look and sound, building a career on the backbone of love songs like “She’s Got It All” and the tear-in-my-beer tune “That’s Why I’m Here.” While his ‘90s records enjoyed considerable chart success, it wasn’t until 1999’s Everywhere We Go that he really hit pay dirt. The album’s mix of fun, romance, and humor (read: “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy”) took it double platinum in the U.S. and granted him a monster hit with the ballad “You Had Me from Hello.” In the 21st century Chesney’s laid into his island vibes, beginning with 2002’s groovily titled No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problems. He even teamed up with Jamaican icons The Wailers for a rare reggae and country pairing on 2008’s “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven,” and has steadily expanded his catalog into the kind of music you can throw on to drink a beer, sing along, and make friends.