Kenny Chesney photo courtesy of Sony BMG Nashville.
May 15, 2008 — "Better As A Memory" popped into the Top 10 on the "Billboard" country singles chart this week, putting Kenny Chesney into some very familiar territory. In fact, it’s the 24th straight release he’s had hit that strata since the turn of the century, and it gives him the longest Top 10 streak of the millennium.
The first song in that stretch was "What I Need To Do," and his run of successes also includes such hits as "Don’t Happen Twice," "The Good Stuff," "When The Sun Goes Down," "Big Star," "Beer In Mexico" and "Shiftwork" — a lot of songs that have been played a lot of times on the radio.
"You know, the radio was everything growing up," Kenny says. "Now people have iPods, mp3s — all kinds of stuff beyond their car radio. But I still think that it’s riding around with your friends — or driving to be somewhere you really wanna be — that songs become a big part of your life. So to hear that I’ve got the longest run of Top 10s since 2000, well, that means my songs have been a big part of a lot of people’s lives. Is there anything better for someone who does what I do?"
Maybe not, but there are definitely other good things happening for Kenny. He’s featured in a new Corona ad that will debut Sunday during the "43rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards," where he could win Entertainer of the Year for the fourth time in a row. That might help him seal up the ACM’s Artist of the Decade honor, which will likely be handed out next year or in 2010. Previous Artists of the Decade include Marty Robbins, 1960s (named in 1970); Loretta Lynn, ‘70s (named in 1980); Alabama, '80s (named in 1989); and Garth Brooks, ‘90s (named in 1999).