39 Facts About Mark Chesnutt

Mark Nelson Chesnutt was born on September 6,1963 and is an American country music singer and songwriter.

Mark Chesnutt is known for his neotraditionalist country and honky-tonk influences, with frequent stylistic comparisons to George Jones.

Mark Chesnutt has recorded several cover songs as both singles and album cuts, including covers of Hank Williams Jr.

Mark Chesnutt Wright produced all but one of his albums released in the 1990s, while his work since 2005 has been produced by Jimmy Ritchey.

Mark Chesnutt has won two awards from the Country Music Association: the Horizon Award and Vocal Event of the Year, both in 1993.

Mark Nelson Chesnutt was born on September 6,1963, in Beaumont, Texas.

Mark Chesnutt drew musical influence from his father, Bob Chesnutt, who was a singer and record collector.

Mark Chesnutt first played drums as a child after receiving a drum kit as a Christmas gift, but at his father's persuasion, he stopped playing drums and chose to focus on singing instead.

Mark Chesnutt dropped out of school in the eleventh grade to begin playing in clubs around southeast Texas.

Mark Chesnutt released his major-label debut Too Cold at Home in 1990.

Mark Chesnutt wrote or co-wrote five of its ten tracks including both "Blame It on Texas" and "Your Love Is a Miracle".

Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly praised Mark Chesnutt's singing voice and honky-tonk style, but felt that the album had too many cover songs.

Mark Chesnutt noted in a 1992 news article in The Tennessean that he was pleased to have recorded a duet with Jones, whom he considered a musical idol.

Mark Chesnutt noted that "Bubba Shot the Jukebox" had been serviced "as a joke" by Nashville song promoters and was not taken seriously by other artists, but he felt that the song had potential.

Nash praised the song variety, highlighting the singles and "It's Not Over" in particular, but felt that Mark Chesnutt's voice was "a little too laid back".

Also in 1993, Mark Chesnutt won two awards from the Country Music Association: the Horizon Award, and Vocal Event of the Year for George Jones' 1992 single "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair", which featured Mark Chesnutt as one of several guest vocalists and was awarded to all participants on the song.

Mark Chesnutt said that he chose to record the Jennings cover at the suggestion of his managers while listening to Jennings' albums on his tour bus, and that Wright was responsible for making arrangements for Jennings to appear on the song.

Mark Chesnutt noted that the album was completed more quickly than his previous ones: while the others took an average of two months to complete due to him having to schedule recording sessions around tour dates, he was able to complete Wings in only ten consecutive days.

The first single was a cover of Todd Snider's "Trouble", which Mark Chesnutt took to Top 20 of Hot Country Songs in 1995.

At the time of this compilation's release, Mark Chesnutt stated that he had toured almost nonstop for the past six years, and that he had wanted to take longer breaks between touring but was unable to since his album sales were not as strong as those of his contemporaries.

In 1997, Mark Chesnutt released Thank God for Believers, which reunited him with Wright on production duties.

Mark Chesnutt agreed to release the song because he felt it had potential as a single, and he was "disappointed" that it had not been a single from its original album.

In late 1998, Mark Chesnutt recorded a cover version of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" at the suggestion of Wright, who had heard the song on his car radio.

Mark Chesnutt said that he decided to cover the song because he felt that, despite his chart successes, he "wasn't getting noticed" due to the weaker sales of his last two albums compared to his first three.

Mark Chesnutt felt that covering a pop song would "show people [he] could sing something other than the same old stuff", while noting that many of his previous successful songs had been ballads.

Mark Chesnutt signed to Columbia Records in 2002 for the release of his self-titled studio album.

Mark Chesnutt said that he intended for the album to be a return to the honky-tonk sounds of his earlier albums, and felt that being on an independent label allowed for him to record music that he wanted to record, as opposed to being pressured into recording songs that were forced upon him by major-label executives.

Mark Chesnutt toured small venues in 2004 and 2005 in support of the album.

Barry Gilbert of the St Louis Post-Dispatch rated the album "B", praising Mark Chesnutt's singing voice and the contrast of the title track with the other cover songs.

Mark Chesnutt's only disc for the label was Rollin' with the Flow, the title track of which was a number-one single on the country charts for Charlie Rich in 1977.

Mark Chesnutt's version reached number 25 on the same chart in late 2007-early 2008, and "She Never Got Me Over You" made the charts as well.

In 2010, Mark Chesnutt announced the release of his next studio album, Outlaw.

Mark Chesnutt's first release through this label was a live album called Live from the Big D, recorded in Dallas, Texas.

In 2013, George Jones invited Mark Chesnutt to be his opener on the last show of his farewell tour at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Mitchell noted that Mark Chesnutt was able to have success with both ballads and uptempo material such as "Bubba Shot the Jukebox" and "Old Flames Have New Names", as well as the strong presence of cover songs from the 1950s and 1960s.

Mark Chesnutt has been married to the former Tracie Motley since 1992.

In October 2021, Mark Chesnutt announced that he would be taking a hiatus from touring until 2022 in order to recover from back surgery.

On November 1,2023, Mark Chesnutt was hospitalized for an issue that required critical care, and underwent multiple tests to determine the exact problem.

Mark Chesnutt canceled further shows in June 2024 after being hospitalized again for an emergency quadruple bypass surgery.