Kenny Chesney Stays Affordable

Kenny Chesney with The Wailers perform "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" at "The 42nd Annual CMA Awards," on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photo courtesy of the Country Music Association.

Jan. 6, 2009 — Kenny Chesney finished No. 4 on Pollstar’s year-end list of the highest-grossing concert tours, but his Poets & Pirates Tour ranked No. 1 in total ticket sales in 2008. And there’s a good reason for that: He does his best to make economic sense.

Playing to more than 1 million fans, Kenny’s concerts averaged $71.24 a ticket, far below the average cost of a ticket to see the three acts that grossed more total dollars. Madonna tickets went for $153.88 on average, Celine Dion required $119, and the Eagles typically received $128.82.

Adding value, many of Kenny’s shows were practically a carnival. His stadium tours usually featured Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes, Sammy Hagar and Gary Allan as well. When he played Nashville’s LP Field, Kenny and those four acts churned out a whopping 50 hits during the course of the day.

"It's not about the money, it's about the fans," he says, explaining his ticket-pricing philosophy. "There will always be tours that gross more than us, because I believe in trying to make it possible for anyone who wants to come out and rock with us to be able to do it. To me, I measure how successful these tours are by the faces we see, and last year, I saw some pretty happy people everywhere we went. That there are a lot of fans there makes me feel like we're part of their summer and part of how they're living their life."

Kenny’s expected to kick off his Sun City Carnival Tour in April, though official dates haven’t yet been announced, outside of an August stadium show in Foxborough, Mass., that’s already sold out.

Kenny wrapped 2008 with two titles among GAC’s Top 50 Videos Of 2008: "Shiftwork," No. 34; and "Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven," No. 19.