Kenny Chesney Stopped Drinking To Prepare For His ‘Sun Goes Down’ Tour: “I Want Them To Get The Best Of Me”

Kenny Chesney and Pat McAfee wasn't a duo I expected to see today but man it works way better than I thought. The unofficial king of summer country music stopped by the Pat McAfee Show today, the official first day of summer, to talk all things sports and music, and while there were a number of funny moments (including the boys singing "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" after Kenny said he stopped playing it), there was one moment that really caught my attention. Pat asked Kenny how he avoids getting boozed up every night, especially considering he brings the tiki bar vibe to every show. And his answer spoke to a common thread we've been seeing in country music more often as of late. "How do you not get boozed up every day? Cause you're bringing the party to everybody's life." And Kenny responded: "Yeah, see but I can't do that boozed up... I used to, like, try to live with the fans and act, I don't know, our life is much different out here now than it was in 2004. In 2004, I mean it was a barrel of fun. Right, it was. But there became this moment where I had to make a decision. Okay, am I going to do this [signaling a little] or am I going to do this [signaling a lot]? And I got to a point in my life where I couldn't do both. This year we're going to do Gillette. We're going to play three nights at Gillette at the end of the year, so there won't be any partying for Kenny to get through three nights." He went on to talk about his sauna and ice bath set up (which everyone with a bit of money seems to have these days) before continuing on the partying aspect of the musicians lifestyle. "I haven't had alcohol since January 1st. When I start to train to go on the road, you know I'm sitting there, okay, the first week of January and I'm trying to emotionally and mentally think about what it takes of me to be up there and I say "Okay, I'm not going to drink for awhile, get really lean," and I measure my food and just get ready cardio wise... But then it just happened, all of a sudden it's almost July. So, I don't know, it's not that I'm quitting, it's just that I realized for me to go up there on stage and do what I do now at this point of my life, I just don't want them to get all of me I want them to get the best of me. And I can't do that hungover." https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1803828240160551032 If you're going to have the length of career that Kenny's had you're going to have to make some sacrifices and it seems there's no shortage of artists that are swearing off the booze lately. From Tyler Childers and Treaty Oak Revival's frontman Sam Canty completely calling it quits to Jon Pardi taking a similar break, it's become way more common for artists still in the prime of their careers to not rely on alcohol to get them through the tough life on the road and instead channel that energy to something more productive. Like he said, he's not quitting for good, so don't be shocked if you see him barefoot with a Mai Tai in hand when the Sun Goes Down Tour wraps up, but for now, Kenny is playing every show with a clear head. Somehow I've still never seen a Kenny Chesney show but with plenty more dates until the last show in August, I may just hop on over to Vivid Seats and score some tickets to a concert near me. They give you a free ticket for every 10 you buy so why not get to earning rewards with concert season being fully upon us? I love when artists open up and give us their thought process on just about anything and Kenny's appearance on the show today was nothing but that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-01jhW_Yzhs * This post contains links from our Affiliate Partners program. If you use these links to make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.