Thanks For The Music

Kenny Chesney with St. John School for the Arts students. Photo Credit: Jill Trunnell

Kenny Chesney has been named 2020’s Country Radio Broadcasters (CRB) Artist Humanitarian Award recipient. Chesney will receive the award, sponsored by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, on Wednesday, Feb. 19 as part of the 2nd Annual Warner Music Nashville (WMN) Kickoff Luncheon, which serves as the official launch of Country Radio Seminar 2020. In addition, the Blue Chair/Warner Music Nashville recording artist headlines this year’s Kickoff Luncheon, where he will be joined by several artists from the Warner Music Nashville (WMN) family.

CRS/CRB Board President, Kurt Johnson commented, “It’s as if this award was created for Kenny Chesney. Artists with his career span are rare. Among them, artists who do as much good as he does, for as long as he has, without calling attention to it, are particularly singular. Here’s to you, Kenny.”

Chesney’s charitable work is far-reaching. His Love for Love City Foundation helped spearhead the rebuilding of St. John, following the devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. In addition to humanitarian aid and working with local teams to facilitate clean-up and rebuilding, he and his core staff worked to rescue and relocate 2,000+ displaced animals of St. Thomas and St. John to several no-kill shelters and loving families in the U.S.

Chesney also wrote and recorded the critically-acclaimed Songs for the Saints in which all proceeds from the album, which featured Ziggy Marley, Jimmy Buffett and Mindy Smith, went to the Love for Love City Foundation. Raising over $1.1 million to date, Songs continues to generate funds for St. John’s ongoing reconstruction work. Chesney also filled the St. John School for the Arts with a bounty of musical instruments, to inspire the children to go to school and be creative as they recovered from the disaster.

Songs for the Saints generated the multiple week #1 “Get Along,” an anthem Chesney felt spoke to the spirit of people coming together post-devastation. Having already been involved with two successful PassItOn.Org campaigns with “Spread the Love” and “The Good Stuff,” the life-affirming organization requested an unprecedented third collaboration. “Get Along,” focusing on people of all ages, races and occupations, has surpassed 2.5 billion views.

Following the bombing at the Boston Marathon, Chesney worked with the Boston Medical Center and created the Spread the Love Fund to benefit amputee survivors. To date, Spread the Love has accrued over two million dollars.

His ongoing commitment to ocean habitat conservation extends from his years spent on the water. No Shoes Reefs has helped rebuild coral reefs in Jacksonville, FL, as well as supported other local ocean ecology efforts around Florida and the Gulf Coast.

"I was raised to lend a hand where I could, but also to reach out quietly and keep the focus on the people who need the help,” comments Chesney. “I've always tried to do the right thing where I could, but this award really belongs to all the people I've met over the years who are rebuilding their lives, their homes, their world. Watching them come together – the courage, the hours and strength they give to these things – my award is getting to be inspired by what these people have accomplished."

Over the years, Chesney has also partnered with myriad organizations, including MusiCares, the Red Cross, Farm Aid, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, ACM Lifting Lives, the CMA Foundation, Kids Wish Network and many local charities.

The CRB Artist Humanitarian Award was created in 1990 by the organization’s board to honor those Country music artists who have exhibited exceptional humanitarian efforts during their career. Past recipients include Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Trace Adkins, Randy Owen, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Reba, Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, and Charlie Daniels, among others.

Registration for Country Radio Seminar is currently $599 per person and is available for purchase at www.CountryRadioSeminar.com. Tickets to the New Faces of Country Music® show are already sold out, and no longer available for purchase with registration packages. Additionally, CRS host hotel, Omni Nashville, is accepting reservations. For more information, visit www.CountryRadioSeminar.com, and follow CRS on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Additional information can be obtained by calling 615-327-4487.

About Kenny Chesney: Kenny Chesney has been heralded as “Country music’s only true long-term stadium act” by Variety and “The King of the Road” by The Wall Street Journal. With 30 #1 hits including “Get Along,” “American Kids,” “When The Sun Goes Down,” “I Go Back,” “Noise,” “Pirate Flag,” “Boys of Fall” and over 32 million albums sold, he’s the 21st century’s soundtrack for coming of age in the heartland. His commitment to his fans – known as No Shoes Nation – made Chesney the only country artist on Billboard’s Top 10 Touring Acts of the Past 25 Years, consistently playing NFL stadiums across the US. That commitment to giving his fans songs that connect on the radio, as well as at the 8-time Entertainer of the Year’s record-shattering shows, reflects the passion fueling the East Tennessean.

About Children’s Miracle Network: Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals raises funds and awareness for 170-member hospitals that provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across the U.S. and Canada. Donations stay local to fund critical treatments and healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment and charitable care. Since 1983, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $5 billion, most of it $1 at a time through the charity’s Miracle Balloon icon. Its various fundraising partners and programs support the nonprofit’s mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible. Find out why children’s hospitals need community support, and learn about your member hospital, at CMNHospitals.org and facebook.com/CMNHospitals. CMN Hospitals is a proud partner of country radio, with stations throughout the nation hosting Radiothon events that engage their listeners and bring their communities together to fundraise for their local children’s hospitals. Country artists have been an incredible force in advocating for local CMN Hospitals, with many artists visiting patients and their families at local hospitals and using their platform to fundraise for the cause. CMN Hospitals is thrilled to sponsor the CRS Artist Humanitarian Award to recognize the incredible work of country artists who go above and beyond to make a difference.

About Country Radio Seminar: Country Radio Seminar is an annual convention designed to educate and promote the exchange of ideas and business practices in the Country music industry, with specific emphasis on issues relevant to Country radio. Country Radio Seminar 2020 is set for Feb. 19-21 at the Omni Nashville.

About Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. ®: The Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.® is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization founded in 1969 to bring radio broadcasters from around the world together with the Country Music Industry to ensure the vitality and promote growth in the Country Radio format.