Songoftheday 1/24/24 - She was aware of her insecurities as she took the stage, she was convinced if she got up there that she'd be discovered someday...

 

 

"Big Star" - Kenny Chesney

from the album No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems (2002)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (two weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 8

 

Today's song comes from country music star Kenny Chesney, whose sixth studio album No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems had spun off a pair of singles that crossed over tothe top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with "Young" and "The Good Stuff".   The third release from the record, the reflective "A Lot Of Things Different", did decently on the radio, making it up to #6 on Billboard's Country Songs airplay chart, but that was only good enough to place at #55 on the Hot 100.  

For the fourth single, Chensey went big, as in the bombastic "Big Star". Written by Stephony Smith, the lyrics tell a story about a girl who grows to be a phenomenon in the industry. Soon after becoming famous, people are questioning how she made it, very much quite like a certain person that would soon be hitting the charts (and would eventually cover this song live). The production by Kenny with Norro Wilson and Buddy Cannon goes for Mellencamp-style energy, and the backup harmonies do wonders in somewhat softening his nasal voice. And it's works better that it's a woman climbing to the top, with the nod to the girls in the audience that say "that could be us". The music video is a little more exploitative than it needed to be, though...

"Big Star" became the third song from No Shoes to reach the top-40 on the Hot 100 in April of 2003, while spending two weeks at #2 on Billboard's Country Songs airplay chart. 

Both Kenny and the album will be back to the series.

(8/10)

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Here's Chesney performing the song live in concert...

And lastly, Taylor Swift and Kenny on her Speak Now tour in 2011...

Up tomorrow: A former boybander goes to the disco.