Kenny Chesney Celebrates 36th No. 1 Hit ‘Take Her Home’
Industry members gathered on the BMI rooftop earlier this week to celebrate Kenny Chesney‘s 36th No. 1 hit “Take Her Home,” written by Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps and Zach Abend, and co-produced by Buddy Cannon.
The lead single from the multi-Platinum entertainer’s Born album, “Take Her Home” makes Chesney the artist with the most Billboard Country chart-toppers. It also serves as Hardy’s 16th No. 1 as a songwriter, Phelps’ ninth and Abend’s first.
The event was hosted by BMI and ASCAP and emceed by BMI’s Clay Bradley. He shared the podium with ASCAP’s Kele Currier, Warner Music Nashville’s Cris Lacy, Sony Music Publishing’s Josh Van Valkenburg, Relative Music Group’s Jesse Matkosky, Warner Chappell’s Christina Wiltshire and Tape Room Music’s Caroline Hodson, who all spoke about Chesney’s commitment to songs and songwriters. Chesney’s dog Poncho was also in attendance for his first No. 1 party.
Sponsored by Studio Bank, the organization made a special donation on behalf of Chesney and the songwriters in support of the Red Cross, benefiting hurricane relief efforts in East Tennessee and North Carolina.
Abend was the first songwriter to take the mic, after he received his custom Taylor 210e DLX guitar from BMI for writing his first hit. He thanked his co-writers and support system.
“I’m extremely grateful to everyone here. Everyone in this room has been so nurturing to me, even if you didn’t know it.”
When Hardy spoke, he shared that it was special to watch the journey of the couple in “Take Her Home” emulate that of Phelps and his wife and daughter. He also shared some special news with the crowd.
“Hunter was really tapped in because of the big pay off in the bridge, where they have a baby girl,” Hardy said. “I think it’s a cool moment that Hunter was experiencing that last year and—I hope I don’t get in trouble for this—but Caleigh and I are pregnant.”
“Kenny is the top of the list for every songwriter in town,” Phelps said. “I was sitting in the kitchen when it was first released. I put my phone on the counter and hit play and started tearing up thinking about my journey as a songwriter to getting a Kenny Chesney cut. It’s such a real song from my life, so thank you for that moment.”
Chesney shared his experience of hearing “Take Her Home” as he was finishing his album and hurriedly getting into the studio to cut it.
“One of my favorite things about this town is that you can wake up one morning and hear a song that didn’t exist the day before. A song that could change lives and find commonality among people…and that’s exactly the way ‘Take Her Home’ happened,” he said. “I woke up and got a text from Hardy and I listened to it and it wasn’t a week later that Buddy and I were in the studio.”
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