Kenny Chesney

Depending on whom you ask, Kenny Chesney represents everything that’s wrong with country music today: His songs stretch the once-tried-and-true country conventions so far that with the exception of the twang in his voice and the pedal-steel guitars, it scarcely resembles country, at least the kind once made by the genre’s iconic framers: Johnny, Merle, Waylon, Buck and George. Just the same, you won’t have to look hard to find folks who feel exactly the opposite and would contend that he’s telling their life stories. And there’s a legion of fans who fit that description — who are not only not put off by the pop-inflected stylings of modern country, but who actually prefer the likes of Chesney and co-headliner Tim McGraw, as evidenced by the fact that these two gentlemen are among the rare contemporary acts whose draw is big enough to justify a stadium tour.