With thirty-two number one hits and four CMA Entertainer Of The Year awards to his name, Kenny Chesney is one of the most iconic country artists of the past three decades.
Last March, the 55-year old made an appearance at the 2023 Country Radio Seminar to discuss his legendary career, at one point even revealing his personal hatred for one of his most beloved hits.
As it turns out, the now 2x platinum single, Don’t Blink, caused quite the disagreement between Chesney and his label. He had his own distaste for the eventual number one hit, while the label had different opinions. Chesney discusses the dispute:
“When we released that song, Joe Galante (Sony Music Executive) and (Sony Music Executive) Renee Bell really wanted that song released, and I hated it.”
“I felt like it just touched every button you could possibly touch to get somebody to like a song and I hated it.”
Chesney revealed that at that point in his career, he was trying to set himself apart from the norms of other country artists, and he thought Don’t Blink simply leaned into the cliches. He continued, detailing his further conversations with the Sony Music Executives:
“We were at ABC Radio Networks in Dallas, and we were on the plane there, and I was in Joe’s ear the who two-hour ride about how much I hated this single choice: It’s never gonna work, this is going to be the end of everything.”
At that point, Chesney had some staple 2000’s country tunes to his name, such as beloved hits Summertime and No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems. His momentum was only accelerating as a mainstay in country music. He further detailed his comments:
“I’ve worked really hard to be here and you’re gonna cut my legs off with Don’t Blink.’’
From an outside perspective, does the song sound a little cliche? Yes, maybe. Does that make it a bad song? Not at all. That being said, it’s fully understandable that Chesney would have his objections to a song that he didn’t feel represented the direction he wanted to go in as an artist at that point.
Luckily, despite Chesney’s personal opinions on the song, Don’t Blink was a success, spending four weeks at number one on the country radio charts and helped the singer continue his steady climb of stardom.
Check out the seminar clip here.
Watch the music video for “Don’t Blink” here: