Kenny Chesney’s Unorthodox Grammy Nomination
Cosmic Hallelujah Scores Best Country Album Nod at 2018 Grammy Awards
Nashville, Tenn. — When Kenny Chesney switched the lead single to “Noise” nine days before the launch of Cosmic Hallelujah,
people thought he was crazy. But the song – written, recorded and
mastered in three days – spoke to the toxic information overload in a
way that felt urgent, and the 8-time Entertainer of the Year decided to
let the music speak to the 24/7 rush of constant connection. From that
moment, everything about the songwriter/superstar from East Tennessee’s
16th album defied conventional wisdom.
Today, Cosmic Hallelujah received Chesney’s first solo Grammy
nomination for Best Country Album for at the 2018 Grammy Awards. Upon
hearing the news, he marveled, “People thought I was crazy doing what
felt right for the music. But sometimes songs need to be released, or
given a video even if they’re not a single, or have the people who’re
living the song make the video… It’s easy to lose track of the music in
the marketing and the promotion, but for Cosmic Hallelujah, I wanted music to drive the decisions. Right now, I feel that was the right thing to do.”
From “Noise” being written, recorded and swapped at the last minute, to
the euphoric multiple-week No. 1 “Setting the World On Fire” with P!nk, a
provocative, big budget “Paper Chase” video featuring John C. McGinley
for “Rich and Miserable,” which never was a single, to a three-week No. 1
final single “All the Pretty Girls,” with a video made by a pair of
Belmont University students, nothing about Cosmic Hallelujah followed traditional orthodoxy. As Chesney says of the decisions, “It was a lot of heart, soul, and passion driven by music.”
Co-produced with Buddy Cannon (Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard), Cosmic Hallelujah marked a progression from The Big Revival,
both groundbreaking records for Chesney. Reflecting the kindred spirits
of the No Shoes Nation, who are voracious to live life, Chesney’s
fourth Grammy nomination stands as recognition for finding the
intersection between connecting through traditional mainstream
media/radio and creating music that digs a little deeper.
“The Grammys represent the entire music community coming together,”
Chesney explains. “It’s the best of the best of every kind of music
there is, voted on by the creators, the players, the songwriters,
producers and engineers. To have this nomination means a lot, because it
is about the music – and given how Cosmic Hallelujah got here, I can’t think of a better honor.”
###