Kenny Chesney opens up about touring with his hero George Strait and reveals how the experience “changed my life” forever. ML

Kenny Chesney has headlined his own stadium tours for years, but back when his career was first starting, he got to open up for one of the biggest country music stars of all time — George Strait. In a new interview with Country Nights Live with Bev Rainey, Chesney opened up about the experience, sharing that he believes it changed his life.

“When you start to think about all the times that you can really see concrete change and go from one step to another and take a different step in your life in this career, there were so many,” Chesney reflected. “But I told George Strait the other night, there were two summers that I was on the road with George Strait that quantifiably changed my life.”

“It was the first time that I was out there playing in front of the masses,” he added. “Before that, it was a fraction of all of that. And I’ll just forever be grateful for that.”

This isn’t the first time Chesney has publicly praised Strait — back in 2014, he opened up about their time on the road together, including the fact that it was with Strait that stadium-staple Chesney first played one of the supersized venues.

“To be a part of his career, and doing two years with him on the road — and the first time I did stadium shows was with George, you know, and I was the first guy on … actually the second,” he said. “And that’s where I learned how to do that. So, to be a part of his career has been one of the biggest highlights of my career and my life.”

The 57-year-old East Tennessee native further called Strait both a “hero” and a “friend” to him. “He’s someone that has inspired me,” Chesney said. “He’s someone that has taught me a lot, indirectly, by just watching him, his song sense, his stage charisma — you name it.”

One of those lessons was how to pick the best songs to record, a skill Chesney clearly became practiced at. “George has, in so many ways, influenced me as an artist, as a person. And like I said, just pickin’ songs,” Chesney revealed. “When I was new in this business, my God, I was like everybody else. We wanted to be as successful as George was, you know, and I learned pretty quickly by studying him that it all starts with the songs. And those songs that George cut and performed all these years will live forever. I mean, they just will. They’re songs that never go out of style because they touch people’s lives.”

Chesney is currently on a different type of tour, doing the rounds to promote his new book, Heart Life Music. Written with Holly Gleason, the book explores Chesney’s journey to stardom, from his time growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee, to building his fan base, No Shoes Nation, and ultimately becoming a country superstar.

The new Country Music Hall of Fame member is in the midst of a series of conversations on the Heart Life Music book tour, visiting Nashville, Los Angeles, Key West and more before he concludes the trek on November 16 in Miami.