Kenny Chesney to Become Flagship Artist of Hey Now Records, Boutique Label Co-Founded With His Manager and Top Nashville Execs

Mar 17, 2026 8:03am PT Kenny Chesney to Become Flagship Artist of Hey Now Records, Boutique Label Co-Founded With His Manager and Top Nashville Execs By Chris Willman Plus Icon Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic ChrisWillman Latest Heart’s Ann Wilson to Premiere New Documentary, ‘In My Voice,’ With 10-City Screening/Q&A Tour 2 hours ago Diane Warren Vows ‘I’ll Be Back’ at Oscars, While Boasting ‘I Set a New Record Tonight!’ — as Most Nominated Person to Not Win a Competitive Academy Award 2 days ago Barbra Streisand Honors Robert Redford With Stirring ‘The Way We Were’ Performance at Oscars 2 days ago See All Country superstar Kenny Chesney has departed Warner Nashville to join an independent label, Hey Now Records, that he is co-founding with his longtime manager, Clint Higham, the former head of Warner Nashville, John Esposito , and one of the former top executives at Big Machine, Kris Lamb. Said Esposito, ex-chairman and CEO of Warner Nashville, in a statement, “Hey Now Records was born out of conversations Clint, Kenny and I had about the increasing lack of focus that artists are getting as rosters increase while staffs shrink. When Kris joined our conversations, I knew we would be lucky to have him at the helm of our operation. I’m thrilled to be in the role of co-founder, advisor, mentor and cheerleader for Kris as he leads the Hey Now Records operation.” Related Stories As Disney CEO Bob Iger Steps Aside, a Look at His Tenure as a Dynamic, Transformative Leader — With an Asterisk or Two