Less-frequent tours by blue-chip artists like the Rolling Stones, Madonna and U2 may grab more headlines, but their numbers are dwarfed by those of Mr. Chesney, a 45-year-old country rocker whose onstage uniform is a cowboy hat with the brim pulled low and a sleeveless T-shirt that shows off chiseled biceps.
"Townes was different, that's for sure he wasn't Nashville or Memphis, which back then were the commercial sounds, " said "Cowboy" Jack Clement, his longtime record producer.