Best of Kenny Chesney on the ‘Ellen’ Show

Welcome back. Good to be back. I'm thrilled to have you here. When I first ran into you backstage at the Ray Charles Tribute, right? And I was so excited that we'd have you. And you were mad at me because I wouldn't come on your show. Yes, I was mad. What happened then? You came on. Then I came on. Right. That's how I get people. Hi, Matthew. I was waiting on my cell phone. Will you answer one if it rings? Sure. Good. All right. So here's the thing. This hat is not helping you with the problem. You sell out these huge stadiums. And you have poor eyesight. You can't see past 20 rows? No, not much. I've been looking at getting that corrective eye surgery thing done. People bring all these signs. They spend a lot of time. Right. Exactly. On these signs. And they say all kinds of things on these signs. And I really can't see. I just wave. See? Now they're going to stop making the signs when they hear about this. Yeah, I know. Either that or getting the first 20 rows. Uh-huh. Or you need to just get the surgery. It's supposed to be... I'm scared to get the surgery. Well, what about glasses? I don't like to, but I'm forced to wear glasses now. I wear glasses too, but not on stage. Oh, not on stage. Yeah. Let me see them on you. These are mine. And they're good looking. Oh, my God. What? They're not that strong. They're not? No, they're not. Maybe you don't need glasses. But I also... I just need them for... Now I can't see with them off. Oh. See, I just need them for close-up. I can see far away. I just can't see... I can see close-up, but I can't see why it's so strong. Uh-oh, somebody's ringing. Not yet. No? I think it's a message or something. Oh. Last year on the tour, you made... I mean, this is already known, so I'm not giving away any secrets. You made $87 million on your tour last year. And, yeah, that's a lot. And listen to this. He still does his own laundry. I like that. I've done my own laundry ever since I was a little kid. I mean, my mom worked, you know. And she was a single working mother. And so if I was going to have clean underwear, I had to do it. So now it's so particular that I won't let anybody else touch it. When do you have time to do laundry? Well, on the road every day. I mean, you got hours to waste. And so I do that. And when I'm home... Do you go to a laundromat? Where do you go? No, usually at the venue or the arena or wherever we're playing. They have their, you know, they have a facility to do it. Do you iron and stuff like that? I'm pretty good ironing. Really? Not very good, though. Uh-huh. Yeah. I could iron your clothes. I could iron your shirt. Really? Yeah. Okay. I'll take it off in a little while and then let you iron it for me. Okay. And do you cook and stuff like that, too? No. I'm not a... No. You're not that. You're just more... No. You like the laundry thing. Do you like to clean like when you're home? I think I'm addicted to it in a way. Uh-huh. I'm one of those people that are addicted to laundry. Uh-huh. I'm always doing it. Really? Always? Always. Yeah. I mean, you know what I mean? I'm like, I think I'm addicted to it. Yeah. Like I pour half a bottle of downy in there, everything. My clothes smell really good. Yeah. You did... You did smell good when I hugged you. So what's going on? We just talked to Matthew about his love life and he said he's too busy. What about you? Are you seeing anybody? No, I'm... Maybe Courtney can help me out. Really? You want Courtney and Lauren to find you a... Would you marry again? Sure. I hope so. Yeah. I hope so. And are you still friends with Renee? Uh-huh. Really? That's great. That's good. Pretty good. I mean, yeah. I mean, it's... Yeah. I'm still friends. Whenever there's a yeah that many times, it's not really... Yeah. No, we are. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Okay. There's the answer there. All right. So... But you will if we find you somebody. No doubt about it. Who are you looking for? What kind? We'll put it out there right now. You put it... I believe it's like... What am I looking for? Yeah. What kind of... She's got to love music. Uh-huh. She's got to love the beach. She's got to love people. She's got to... Wow. Okay. Here we go. Music, the beach, people. She's got to love... Have fun. And she's got to love to do laundry. Uh-huh. And I'm sick of it. I... I'm just kidding. That's a joke. Yeah. Well, it sounds like I'm your girl, but I'm not available. But I like to do laundry. And I think there are a lot of people out there who like all those things. So just write into our website, and we'll get your information to Kenny. Back with Kenny Chesney. You just have such a bright, bright smile. I do? Yeah. I don't like my smile very much. Really? Yeah. How can you not like your smile? I don't know. It's a very... It's a wonderful smile. It is? Well, thank you very much. You're welcome. By the way, I think you're hot, too. Oh, wow. I really do. Thanks a lot. Yeah. Wow. What are you doing after? That's... Oh, I'm married. Oh, I tried. I tried. By the way, you know, when you go and you do these talk shows, they usually give you, you know, gifts, you know, in your dressing room. I walked into my dressing room today at Ellen and... You should be wearing them. What are you talking about? What are these all about? Yeah. I'm sure you got them here before. I have a hard time. Me going out on a date. It goes really, really well. Uh-huh. And having Ellen on the... Ellen on these. It would... It would impress her, I'll tell you that. Yeah. They would like to see that. They're very comfortable. You'll enjoy them. Thank you very much. Maybe not on a date, but you'll enjoy them. Yeah. Hey, we just found out just now that your CD is going to debut at number one. Congratulations. When something like this, like this particular CD, is more personal. You've written songs about your marriage. Yeah. Does she know? Do you keep in touch with... I'm sure she does by now. Yeah. By now, all week. You don't talk? Not that much. No. Okay, so she doesn't really know. You don't call and go, hey... To listen to the song? No. Yeah. No. You don't run the song by her. And is that... It must be cathartic to get that out, but then do you feel vulnerable that you're putting out there your feelings? Oh, of course. Yeah. Sure. My life is my songs. My music is my life. Mm-hmm. So, you know, as a songwriter, it's... I think you learn at some point that you've got to be truthful with everybody. Mm-hmm. And write what you're feeling. And, you know, sometimes it does put you in a pretty... Creative, it does put you in a pretty... vulnerable place. You know? Do you find that some musicians, I think, get stuck in, like, needing that drama to keep writing songs? No, I don't need the drama. You don't, but do you know what I'm talking about, though? I do know what you're talking about, but I'm not one of those people that has to be miserable to make music. Mm-hmm. But, no, a lot of people do. Seriously. I mean... There are a lot of people that thrive on that. Yeah. I don't thrive on it. Yeah. No. I like to be happy. Yeah. You're looking for some... Are you dating? Yeah. You are dating? Yeah. Are you... Are you dating anyone seriously, or just kind of a lot of... Starting to... Yeah? Yeah. It's in the beginning stages. Mm-hmm. That's good. Yeah. I'm happy for you. Thank you. Yeah. All right, and so do you want to have a little baby? What about that baby that... You don't want that one. It's Nicole's, but... Can't have her. No. It was a pretty baby, though. Yeah. But you want a family? Sure. Yeah. A big family? Oh, well, I don't know how big of a family I want. No. Yeah. I don't think that the whole... You know, I don't think my life is going to revolve around catering and a boss my whole life. Mm-hmm. I hope not, anyway. Yeah. Because that's... That touring has got to be hard on a relationship. It's really hard. Oh, it's almost impossible to have whatever normal is now, but to have a normal relationship and do what I do, like I do it as much as I put into it. Then do you think you would stop touring? I don't think I'll ever stop touring, but I may take the foot off the gas pedal. Mm-hmm. Yeah, because you're saying backstage that you're going to try to take a little break for a while. I am. Yeah. After this show, actually. I mean, I've been on tour since September. Uh-huh. No, I'm sorry. I've been on tour since April. Uh-huh. And my tour ended in September, and I've been... You know, the record's out this week, so I've been doing a lot of stuff for that, and then... Mm-hmm. So after you, I'm on vacation. Oh, good. I'm glad to be your last stop. Yeah. I didn't mean that. No, I mean that. I'm happy that you can go away with memories of me in my underwear. Yeah. We're back. Lovely, lovely Kenny Chesney. I love when you're here. Hi. So, Life Is Good For You, number one song. Your CD is expected to be number one, and you've got a new documentary that is... Is it out, or is it coming out? It's coming out in November. In November. And it is about? Football. And it's about... You love football. I love football. Yeah. You love football. It's about football, but it's about how football relates to life, life relates to football. It's about showing kids that it's okay to dream, it's okay to dream big. I came from a small town, and I had a lot of dreams in my head. I think we all have this internal voice in our head, saying, okay, there's this kid out there who wants to be the next Drew Brees, and he goes, well, that's really not gonna happen to me. The internal voice is saying that, but it's really not true. Those constraints really aren't there. Well, look at Drew's story. Drew's story is amazing. Right. Drew Brees, which we have his jersey hanging there. I see that. I am so proud of them, and I love him, and he's been here, of course, and you actually hung out and trained with the Saints, right? I did. Sean Payton is a great friend of mine. The coach, right, yeah. I met him when he was quarterback coach for the New York Giants, and I've had a lot of those guys on stage with me, Coach, Payton, and Drew, and all those guys have been on stage, and they all think they can sing. They want to sing, anyway. I've always wanted ... I quit growing in high school, so I couldn't really play football like those guys, but I wanted to, so they let me come to practice. They signed me. We did a press conference and everything. That's very fun. It was fun. How'd you do? Pretty good? I did okay. Yeah? Yeah, I did okay, but the one thing that ... They put a lot of pressure on me, a lot, because Sean goes, he goes, can you catch a punt, and I went like a real punt, and he said yeah, so they were in training camp now, it's hot, and he goes, if Kenny catches this punt, you guys don't have to practice on Monday, but if he misses it, you got to practice twice. That's not fair. So you can imagine these ... I caught it. You did? I did catch it. Yeah. Okay. I was really, really scared that I was going to drop that punt. Yeah. I've never caught one before, really. Well, I can't even imagine, when you think about it, catching something, hurling through the air with that kind of velocity, it must impact you. It must be a hard hit to your chest. Well, it's harder to do with pads on, too. I didn't do it with pads. I did it with a helmet. Yeah. That was it. I think I did it ... I did it two years in a row, though. One year, I did it without a helmet. One year, I did it with a helmet. It's tough, though. Wow. Yeah. But I had fun. Yeah. Well, it sounds fun. I brought you a present. I know. I won. I heard you got me a present. What? And you're from New Orleans, right? I'm from New Orleans. And you've had Coach on here. Yes, and Drew. And Drew. And his wife, yes. And his wife. Yeah. I love the Saints. So ... Okay, close your eyes. Close your eyes. Really? Close your eyes. Okay. All right. They're still closed? Mm-hmm. You ready? Yep. Open them. That's a real helmet. That's what they wear. I went to the Saints game last Sunday, and they signed it for me. Drew and Coach, of course. I was number seven in high school, so I signed it and put number seven on it. Wow. Do you think it'll fit? I have a tiny, tiny head. If it's a tiny, tiny helmet ... There you go. It's tiny. It's going to be fun. This is a really good idea. I don't know whose idea it was, but it's a really good idea. Okay. No. No, I'm kidding. Yeah. Well, actually, we've talked about it for a long time. Yeah. Yeah, we have. Because you've known each other a long time, right? Even more years. How long have you known each other? 20 years. But you used to go over and play with his ... He had tea parties with his daughters. Is that right? Well ... When you first moved into the neighborhood, yeah. When I first moved into Tim and Faith's neighborhood, Gracie got the idea that she was going to paint everybody's toenails at the pool. And so, she painted my toenails, she painted Tim's toenails, Faith's, everybody's, right? And we had to go somewhere. Well, it was the ACM Awards. That was on a Friday. And the ACM Awards were coming up that Sunday. That Sunday. So, I'm out in LA. It was still in LA at the time. I'm out in LA at the pool, you know, the day of the awards show. And I looked down, and my toenails were still painted. And I was walking around talking to everybody. I was like, everybody in the business. Which pool? Like a hotel or something? It was like the Universal Hilton or something like that. Oddly enough, that still happens to Kenny, but it's a whole different scenario. Especially in Vegas now that the awards have moved in. People can have access to your toes, because you're barefoot all the time. Now, don't you worry about getting, now that you're touring together, you're going to get stepped on or something like that? You're not worried about- I'm more worried about getting fungus or something like that. No, no. I decided to be comfortable. Yeah, Kenny's comfortable all the time. Really? You're more comfortable barefoot on stage like that? Well, I haven't really done it on stage yet. I just decided to do it here. My jeans were too wrinkly, and my boots didn't fit right, so I decided to do this. Whatever makes you comfortable. And where did this Brothers of the Sun tour come from? That's your name. You came up with that. Yeah, it was. But Tim and I both, we play music in the summertime, and we both love the outdoors, love the sun. And that's been a big part of my life for a while in Tim's. And people that come to listen to us play, it's a summertime thing. It's going to be fun. Ellen, it's going to be special summer. I'm sure. I just let performance alone, and I love that song. It's fantastic. And this didn't have to happen. As special as it's going to be for me and Tim to be up there on stage again, the fans are the ones who've lived with our music for a while. They're the ones that are going to benefit the most. Well, it's sold out. I think you sold almost a million tickets already. Right? You sound good. You look good. I do? You look real good. I look real good? You look real good. And I love that song, and it's great to see you. I love having you here. Every time you're here. And I hear everyone's got a joke today. You have a joke, too? I do have a joke. All right, let's hear it. OK. It's the first time I've told a joke on TV. But this old couple, right? And they're driving back from Florida. They spent the summer in Florida, or spent the winter in Florida. And they're driving back, see? They're driving back, and they get pulled over by the cops. And this cop goes, can I see your driver's license? And the old lady says, what did he say? And the guy goes, he asked to see my driver's license. They're talking to each other like that? Like this, yeah. So, and the cop goes, so you're from Missouri? And she goes, what did he say? He goes, he asked if we were from Missouri. And the cop goes, you know, I mean no disrespect, sir, but I had the worst sex I've ever had in my life in the state of Missouri. She goes, what did he say? He says he thinks he knows you. I didn't make that up. So it's not a good marriage. All right, so let's talk about your tour right now. You're selling out stadiums. Every time I see you, it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And the stadium isn't, right? Oh, no, no. Yes, it is. Well, it's kind of. We're having a blast. And it just goes to show you how much passion, and how much people care about music, and that they're not just hearing the songs on the radio. They're really living with it. But it's amazing, though, Kenny. I mean, stadiums, that's got to feel. Because I know the energy I get from this room and from audiences that I play, do in stand up. To get that from that many people, that must feel amazing. The best way I can describe it is some nights it really feels like an avalanche, like you're standing right in front of it. And it's awesome. You feel that. All right, and let's talk about you have a new line of rum. That has come out. What's the name of the rum? It's called Blue Chair Bay Rum. Blue Chair Bay. So I'm excited about it. It's almost like releasing your first record. It's like a new project and a new thing. So there's this nervous energy that comes along with that. And it's not out yet, because we tried to get a bottle. And we don't have that. But we do have something that I think you do enjoy. We have a different kind of rum. And we're going to play a game. A game? Yep, and we're going to play a game. I'm going to ask you some questions. Looks dangerous and fun. I'm going to ask you some questions. And you can't smell. Some are water and some are rum. And you're just going to point to which one. And I'll hand it to you. You don't get to smell first. So you don't know if you're going to have a shot of rum or a shot of water. So what's that? Are these? These are true or false. So if you get it right, you have to take a shot. All right? Here we go. Your name is Kenny Chesney. That's true. Uh-oh, it's not water. All right, all right. Your new CD that's coming out on April 30th is great. I think that's true. So, um, OK. Thank God that's water. That's water. All right. You have a duet on your new album with Willie Nelson. That's true. That's not water. Am I the only one doing it? Wait, what's the matter? What's wrong with this story? I'm not playing the game. You're playing the game. I'm playing the game. All right. Do I get to spend the night? Yeah. This falls out into a couch. This is where I live. This is my house. All right, finish it. You have another one. Here's your last one. You brought copies of your new CD for everyone in the audience. That's true.