Kenny Chesney Celebrates Anniversary of ‘Be As You Are’ Album With Acoustic Performance

Kenny Chesney treated fans to an acoustic performance this week in celebration of the 16th anniversary of his album Be As You Are, which was released on Jan. 25, 2005. The country star used his social media platforms to share a video of himself performing “Old Blue Chair,” playing an acoustic guitar while sitting in his actual old blue chair.

“Today is the 16th anniversary of the release of one of my favorite albums I’ve ever put out,” Chesney told viewers at the start of the clip. “The Be as You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair) is a collection of songs that I wrote over about a five or six-year period on my boat down on the islands and it was a lot of fun inspiration. I can tell you that.” After his performance, Chesney said, “Thanks for loving that song loving the record. Can’t wait to play that song for you live sometime soon. I miss you guys!”

“Today is the anniversary of the release of the Be As You Are album,” he captioned the video. “Thank you for loving the music, @noshoesnation. #oldbluechair #beasyouare.” Be as You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair) was intended to be a side project and did not produce any singles. Chesney wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, including “Old Blue Chair,” originally featured on his album When the Sun Goes Down.

Chesney was scheduled to be on the road in 2020 on his Chillaxification Tour, which was postponed until 2021 with a scheduled start date of May 1 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. However, it’s currently unclear whether that date will be able to proceed. “I kept talking to experts, city officials, team owners, medical people, looking to understand how we were coming along with resolving the health issues,” Chesney said in a statement at the time. “I had kept hoping that as time passed, the information would not only increase, but there would be some sort of solution so people could come back together. But things weren’t getting any clearer, so I did the hardest thing for me, but obviously the best option for the safety of No Shoes Nation, my road family and everyone at the buildings involved.”

In May 2020, the Tennessee native released his latest album, Here and Now, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, giving Chesney his ninth trip to the top of the list and tying him with Garth Brooks for the most all-time No. 1s on the chart for a country act.