Post by BeachTenant on May 13, 2007 13:36:23 GMT -5
This was posted on MSN~ Life styles. 
KENNY CHESNEY:
"She's always been there for me"
Country singer Kenny Chesney, 38, grew up in a tiny dot of a town: Luttrell, Tennessee. His parents split when he was a child, and he and his younger sister were raised mostly by their mother, Karen Chandler, a hairdresser. "It wasn't easy," says Chesney. "She was busting her butt to make things OK for us. We weren't poor, but we had no extra stuff. She made it seem not as bad as it was." In 1997, in Los Angeles, Chesney won the Academy of Country Music award for top new male vocalist. His mother was sitting next to him : "I grabbed her hand and said, 'You're going up there with me.' I had to hold her up, she was so scared." But it was the right thing to do, he adds, "because she had lived this dream with me." In his own words:
Lessons learned
"My mom has a huge heart. She's always making comments like 'Most people don't know how to have fun.' I think I got my love of life and love of people from her."
Following the dream
"When I graduated from college, I was playing guitar at bars, and I started to write songs; my mother could see in my eyes that I wasn't going to be happy unless I tried to go to Nashville. Deep down, she may have thought I would do it for a year and come home. I'm sure as a parent she was a little scared, but she didn't let on."
This song's for you
"I wrote a song about her called 'Dreams.' I was talking to her one night on the phone; she'd just broken up with a guy, and she said, 'Most men my age want younger women.' There was a lot of insecurity in her voice, and that's why I wrote the song. She loved it, and it's one of my favorites."
I love my mother because…
"There were tough times for her, but she's come through it all with grace and a heart that isn't jaded or bitter. With everything that's happened to me—good and bad—my mom has always been there."
KENNY CHESNEY:
"She's always been there for me"
Country singer Kenny Chesney, 38, grew up in a tiny dot of a town: Luttrell, Tennessee. His parents split when he was a child, and he and his younger sister were raised mostly by their mother, Karen Chandler, a hairdresser. "It wasn't easy," says Chesney. "She was busting her butt to make things OK for us. We weren't poor, but we had no extra stuff. She made it seem not as bad as it was." In 1997, in Los Angeles, Chesney won the Academy of Country Music award for top new male vocalist. His mother was sitting next to him : "I grabbed her hand and said, 'You're going up there with me.' I had to hold her up, she was so scared." But it was the right thing to do, he adds, "because she had lived this dream with me." In his own words:
Lessons learned
"My mom has a huge heart. She's always making comments like 'Most people don't know how to have fun.' I think I got my love of life and love of people from her."
Following the dream
"When I graduated from college, I was playing guitar at bars, and I started to write songs; my mother could see in my eyes that I wasn't going to be happy unless I tried to go to Nashville. Deep down, she may have thought I would do it for a year and come home. I'm sure as a parent she was a little scared, but she didn't let on."
This song's for you
"I wrote a song about her called 'Dreams.' I was talking to her one night on the phone; she'd just broken up with a guy, and she said, 'Most men my age want younger women.' There was a lot of insecurity in her voice, and that's why I wrote the song. She loved it, and it's one of my favorites."
I love my mother because…
"There were tough times for her, but she's come through it all with grace and a heart that isn't jaded or bitter. With everything that's happened to me—good and bad—my mom has always been there."
