Kenny Chesney earned a top 24 story of May 2024 after he brought out Megan Moroney for a special guest duet on his Sun Goes Down Tour. Here is the report in our look back in the Year In Rock: When Kenny Chesney booked his Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour, he had no way of knowing Megan Moroney would be the leading female nominee at the Academy of Country Music Awards. The idea the young woman who hit No. 1 with "Tennessee Orange" wouldn't be able to attend the ceremony wasn't on the table, and then she received not one, two or three, but six nominations; ultimately winning for New Female Artist.
"Those nominations are such a big deal when you're starting out," says the 8-time ACM and Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year. "And the fact Megan was up for Female, as well as New Female, Song of the Year as writer and artist, Vocal Event and Visual Media for 'Can't Break Up Now' with Old Dominion? That's massive. I hated knowing she was missing the show, but when we're not in stadiums, she's my direct and only support."
Having been in Frisco, Texas for the ACM kick-off, where she won New Female, Moroney hit the Hard Rock LIVE! in Hollywood, Florida, ready to make some music. Having studied Chesney's set-list, she had an idea of her own she wanted to try - and approached the East Tennessee songwriter/superstar about an invitation he'd thrown out opening weekend.
"I'd told her if she figured out what she wanted to sing with me, we'd do it," Chesney says with a laugh. "And she came back saying she wanted to do 'All The Pretty Girls.' I can't for the life of me figure out why, but she got up there sang the &%$ out of it. Talk about a moment. She had a vision, and she hit that stage and made it happen. She's a force, and it was big fun."
And the fun didn't stop there. Beyond having their first musical throwdown, the man the Wall Street Journal calls "the King of the Road" wanted something to mark the moment for Moroney's first major award. What could be better than presenting a cake? A cake and a little sip of the nightly mondo-margarita presented by Production Manager Ed Wannebo.
"It's one of those things you hate to miss," he says. "Though I think Megan has so many awards ahead of her, she'll look back, knowing this was just the beginning. Winning New Female Artist matters, because it sets up the rest of everything. She couldn't be there when they said her name as Female Vocalist, so I wanted her to have that experience with several thousand very close friends from No Shoes Nation."
"I've always loved 'All The Pretty Girls' and was so excited to get up there to sing with Kenny," Moroney says. "But when he gave me the cake, congratulating me on my award, I couldn't believe it. Who does stuff like that? Especially at his level. I wish I could have been in two places, but Kenny and his road family went beyond to make my first ACM win so, so special!"
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