No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems Certified Triple Platinum

06-30-03

Kenny Chesney's Latest Certified Triple Platinum; BNA Debut Strikes Gold Nashville: With the #1 ticket-selling tour in any genre of music for the first quarter of 2003, it's no wonder Kenny Chesney's critically-acclaimed No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems has passed the three million mark -- having been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. As the title track of the #1 Billboard all-genre Top 200 Albums debut heads to the top of the country singles chart, Chesney's easy living anthem is the crowning glory for a summer of sun burn, first loves and big fun.

"There are some things you just can't quite get your head around -- and this (selling 3,000,000) is one of those things," says the retiring Luttrell, Tennessean, who just played to over 62,000 at the University of Tennessee's high temple of college football Neyland Stadium. "We all know I can't count that high, but I sure am glad there are that many folks out there who want to kick it back with us and chill."

Chill is hardly the word! No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems features the 7 week #1 Billboard and Academy of Country Music Single of the Year "The Good Stuff," the looking back while living in the now "Young," the female empowering "Big Star" and the reflective "A Lot of Things Different." It also features a tugging rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "One Step Up," which prompted a letter from the Boss himself.

"No Shoes is more me, definitely," says the reigning Academy of Country Music Top Male Vocalist. "And it's nice when you really start putting a lot of yourself in the music, in songs like 'Never Gonna Feel Like That' among others, that people respond to. That's you they're voting on... and it's nice that they get it, or to an extent who I am and where I come from.

"Chesney's All I Need To Know, his first for BNA, turns gold - making all of his RLG distributed releases are now certifiably heavy metal! Recorded in 1994 and released in 1995, it contains his first Top 5 "Fall In Love," still a cornerstone of the man People called "The Sexiest Country Singer Alive"'s live show.

"Anybody thinks I'm heavy metal, better buy Ozzy Osbourn a fiddle and get Rob Zombie a mandolin," laughs the clearly pleased singer/songwriter. "Because while I'm not heavy metal music, it's nice to see the fans still finding some of the older songs -- enough to see the milestones passing by like the mile markers outside the bus window. I love a bunch of the songs on that album as much now as I did when I recorded them, so it's good they're not lost or forgotten."

That sense of comfort and belonging has been a cornerstone of Chesney's music from the very beginning. Last year The New York Times wrote, "He sang about devotion, about dreams of stardom, about happily settling down while reminiscing over youthful songs and escapades. Mr. Chesney's country is suburbia, a place of prized stability and modest pleasures. His cozy songs assure listeners that they're not missing a thing," while Rolling Stone concurred, "In his rich George Strait baritone, Chesney delivers real feeling" and The Washington Post proclaimed, "The best coming of age album to come out of Nashville's Music Row in years."

With similar raves in Entertainment Weekly, Blender, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Music Connection, Country Music, The Hollywood Reporter, Caribbean Travel and Leisure and The Boston Globe, these publications have all cited the guitar-playing Chesney's ability to distill life for his fans. With his Margaritas 'n' Senoritas tour tearing up the road and leaving happy fans in its wake, it won't be long 'til No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems makes its way to 4 million copies sold -- and you just know there's gonna be an umbrella drink to celebrate!