Kenny Chesney Criticizes Artists Who Pull Out of Shows Last Minute

Kenny Chesney has spent over 30 years building his career in country music. Although songs like “Get Along,” “Summertime,” and “When the Sun Goes Down” helped the country singer gain fame, it didn’t come without years of hard work. Even before Chesney was a household name, he spent countless hours just trying to get his foot in the door. Recently, Chesney discussed the current state of the genre and how many artists have become ungrateful. 

Speaking with Bill Maher on his Club Random podcast, Chesney didn’t hold back when it came to his thoughts on artists who cancel concerts. While most fans know the feeling of learning about a cancellation, for some, that news comes when finding their seats. While even singers can’t control an emergency, Chesney revealed that he knew singers who didn’t perform because they simply didn’t feel like it.

Not giving away any names, Chesney said, “I know people that cancelled shows before they went on. People were already there, and they just said, ‘I’m not going on.’ And now the thing is, they’re not mentally fit.”

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Kenny Chesney Reminds Artists “It’s Show Business”

Chesney isn’t the first singer to highlight the toll touring can take on a person. The endless days of traveling and performing eventually break a person, but Chesney believed that some were just weak. “There’s a certain thing. I think, in the way I came up in all the clubs and casinos and whatever it is I played getting to the next level, there’s a certain gratitude.”

Admitting that not every singer followed the same mentality as himself, Chesney insisted that there was one rule, no matter the genre. “I think it’s the way I was brought up, also, but you just didn’t cancel. It’s show business.”  

With platforms like TikTok giving artists the ability to explode overnight, Chesney suggested that some newer performers never experience the years of grinding through small clubs and bars. “It is interesting to see… The work was a part of the process. It is a little different today.”   

And not looking for a mountain of backlash, Chesney concluded, “I’m not saying that people don’t work hard, because they do.” 

(Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage)