Kenny Chesney Will Release Tour Edition of ‘Born’ Album

Kenny Chesney is preparing to release a "tour edition" of his upcoming Born album.  He said, "We decided to do something a little unorthodox because, as I've said with my live albums, there is no sweeter sound than hearing No Shoes Nation singing my songs. We are going to create a special Tour Edition of Born, which will have a few select cuts from 2018 before the world changed, in addition to the album that everyone else will be able to stream or buy in all the usual spaces."

When Born hits the streets on its March 29 street date, fans who have bought tickets to this summer's concerts, as well as members of Chesney's fan club, will receive an email with a link to purchase Born with three extra tracks.

One of those tracks will be "Living In Fast Forward." recorded at Chesney's record-setting Nashville Nissan Stadium show. In addition, the digital-only release includes two songs from Chicago's Soldier Field: "Get Along" and the David Lee Murphy duet "Everything's Gonna Be Alright."

Kenny explained, "Those songs say so much about who we are, how we try to live and see the world. If I were going to put three songs that match up with everything that's going to be on this album, these three tracks would be the ones. The road band was smoking, No Shoes Nation was all in – and those songs say so much."

Chesney also released "Just To Say We Did," another taste of the album today (2/2). He says of the song, "What can I say? 'Just To Say We Did' sounds like me and my friends growing up and so many people I've met along the way, It's a song where whatever it is, why not? Get out there and live, shoot your shot, do that bucket list thing – just to say you did. When you can boil down how to create real joy into three minutes that feels this good, I want to sing that song."

Many country music superstars embrace the Grand Ole Opry and openly weep when invited to become members of the Nashville institution. However, a handful of country superstars are not members of the Opry.

To become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, you have to be invited, and that decision comes down to Opry management. According to the Opry website, "Opry membership requires a passion for country music's fans, a connection to the music's history, and it requires commitment – even a willingness to make significant sacrifices to uphold that commitment. Often, the Opry seeks out those who seek out the Opry, though decisions aren't based on which artists appear most on the show, either."

In picking new members of the Opry, their site says, "The Opry doesn't simply pass out invitations to the biggest stars with the most hits. Opry management looks for a musical and a generational balance. Opry membership requires a passion for country music's fans and a connection to the music's history. It requires commitment – even a willingness to make significant sacrifices to uphold that commitment."

To become a member, there is a rule that artists need to commit to playing the Grand Ole Opry stage several times a year. However, that rule is often broken by current Opry members (primarily icons and superstars), and it's just okay.

For some country superstars, it may be the commitment they shy away from or not having enough passion for the Opry history to leave the Grand Ole Opry out of their careers. We look at five country music superstars that are not members of the Grand Ole Opry. While all have played it at least once, these five acts rarely play the Grand Ole Opry stage.

Tim made his Grand Ole Opry debut in December 2003. After that, he played it a few times, but never that much, and now he doesn't play the Grand Ole Opry at all. Not sure why.

Faith played the Opry in the late 1990s when her career started to hit. She didn't play the Opry stage much after that.

Vince Bucci/Getty Images

George played the Grand Ole Opry show once, his debut performance on the stage in October of 1982. That was the first and last time, and no one really knows why. There is a theory that he could not make the Opry commitment to play the stage very much because he never lived in Nashville; he has always resided in Texas.

Miranda played the Grand Ole Opry several times in her career, and some of her most recent performances on the Opry stage were in 2014 with then-husband Blake Shelton and in 2015 and 2016. She does not play it often now, and in 2015, she told me when asked about the Grand Ole Opry and someday becoming a member, "It's sort of something I don't talk about or have never asked or say that out loud. It was always a big deal to Blake, so that was something we always talked about, and he became a member, but I'd never really set it out for myself." She added, "It wasn't on my radar before because I focused on that for him, but I would definitely never say no to being a member of the Grand Ole Opry."

Scott Gries/Getty Images

Kenny made his Opry debut in 1996. He has been on the Opry stage a handful of times and once when he paid tribute to George Jones singing his classic, "White Lightning." These days it's very rare to see Chesney on the Grand Ole Opry stage.