Kenny Chesney

**Kenny Chesney** (0:23)
I have a love-hate relationship in Vegas, you know, because I don't act like I used to. Yeah. You know, so, now once we're in there playing, it's great.

**Rick Rubin** (0:34)
The Sphere is not like any other gig. It's totally its own thing.

**Kenny Chesney** (0:37)
No, it's its own thing. And the thing that I loved, you know, I didn't know how I was going to like it, but they did a tribute concert to Jimmy Buffett at the Hollywood Bowl.
And then I was there and Irving Hazoff says, I want you to go to Vegas with me and watch the Eagles. And I went with them to see it. They haven't been a country guy to do it. I really need to do it. I said, well, it looks great. You know, and so that's how that started.

**Rick Rubin** (1:04)
It's only been you two and Fish, right? Are those the only two other artists who've done it?

**Kenny Chesney** (1:09)
And Dad and Company.
Yeah. I think no doubt just finished. But the stuff I've seen of Fish on there is just unbelievably creative. I loved it. But I really love the process of putting that all together for the creative brain.
It was a bit overwhelming at first. But man, when you're in there, it's very unique. You know, and for me, who has built an audience, you know, part of my mojo is, OK, all night, right? It's human behavior. You can't help it. People that are in there, that thing comes to life and everybody's going, and then, oh, wait, wait, the band's out there. Even where the artist is positioned is a weird place to relate to the audience. It's no. But I mean, after a couple of shows, I was really able to reach across the fence and bring them over to us. And once I got comfortable with that, I loved it. Because people that have lived with this music for a while, they come there and they experience it in a completely different way, in a completely different state of consciousness. And I loved it. I loved it so much that we're going back. Great. You know? And so, to stay in one spot, when, look, I went on the road in November of 93
So to stay in one spot was really great. I don't think anyone understands how hard life on the road is. I got so used to it. It's a beautiful addiction, life on the road. Not to say I didn't get tired.
But this has been a good break for me of, for sure, hearing the constant hum of a generator. You know? In my life, I needed a break. My soul truly needed a break. Even though I wanted to stay connected, and this allowed me to do that. Beautiful. Yeah. It was really good for me. I'm glad you took the time to do it. Yeah. Because honestly, not everybody is afforded the opportunity to do it differently. You get caught in this cycle and you just keep doing it. I've watched from afar a lot of my friends and people that I love and respect. That's how they start to hate what they do. Yeah. They also forget who they are.

**Rick Rubin** (3:21)
They only know who they are on the road.

**Kenny Chesney** (3:24)
Well, that's...
I mean, there's a saying, and I think it happened with me a little bit. You almost become emotionally frozen.
In the moment that your life changed, or yet your music started to happen, or people started paying in contention to you, or you become semi-famous on any level. You almost become emotionally frozen in that moment and stuck in it as a human being. I've tried really hard not to do that. And my life out here and you and all of our mutual friends here really helped me as a human being to, okay, wow, now you don't have to be that persona all the time. I spent my whole life trying to be that, to get into this space, to live up to that. Yes. And it's a made up thing. And I also realized that one of the things that helped me, and when people ask me for advice, they do now all of a sudden.
You know, so is to try to separate that as much as you can. I got to a place where I realized that every decision that I ever made as an adult, once I got on this path, every decision that I made was for the persona and not the person. The guy on stage. Yes, that's a weird thing to say. Like every life decision, who I'm friends with or where I'm going to go on my off time, everything was on schedule and it had to fit in the life of that persona on stage, not the person. And I realized that was making me really unhappy. At some point, it does.