Kenny Chesney was officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday in Nashville.

He joins the late June Carter Cash and producer Tony Hall in the 2025 class. Kenny's speech was full of gratitude to his family, friends, colleagues and mentors who have supported his career over the years. One of those people is Randy Owen from Alabama. Kenny was inspired to follow his musical ambitions when he was a teenage after attending an Alabama concert. In the 1990's, when he was trying to make a name for himself, Kenny was invited by the band to join them on tour "when nobody would take me on the road." His parents, Karen Chandler and David Chesney, were watching from the front row as their son was inducted by fellow Hall of Fame member, record executive Joe Galante. "It's really a gift," says Kenny. "To be 57 years old and get inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and be sitting beside your mother and father." His induction also featured performances from Kelsea Ballerini, Megan Moroney and Eric Church. Megan postponed a flight to Australia so she could be there to perform an acoustic version of Kenny's 2021 number one hit "Knowing You." That song was co-written by Kenny's close friend Brett James, who was killed in a private plane crash last month. Eric was a last-minute replacement for another artist who was ill. He celebrated Kenny with a melody of his hits "I Go Back," "Anything But Mine," "El Cerrito Place," "Never Wanted Nothing More," "The Boys of Fall" and "Old Blue Chair."