The country singer hadn't seen his bandmates for two years.
Kenny Chesney's upcoming Academy of Country Music Awards performance means a lot to him for a number of reasons. ET spoke with the 53-year-old country singer at rehearsals for the awards show, airing live on CBS on Sunday, and he shared why he got emotional.
Chesney will be performing his new single, "Knowing You." He told ET that he actually hadn't seen his band members in two years ahead of rehearsals.
"I'm very excited, you know ... I hadn't seen my band in two years so it was good to see them," he says. "You know, it reminded us all what we do for a living because we've, for the past couple of years, we've had to cancel two years of touring and so I just haven't seen that many people that you consider family on the road."
"And so it was really emotional today," he continues. "I didn't realize how much I missed everybody, you know, but when I saw them, it was really good."
The moment was especially emotional given the subject matter of his song, "Knowing You," which is about losing a close person and choosing to look back on the relationship with gratitude instead of sadness.
"Singing this kind of song, it's really strange to look up on the screen and see a couple people that you really loved and knew in your life that have passed on and this song is, it fits the moment, really," he shares.
The ACMs will air live on CBS at 8 p.m. ET (delayed PT) on Sunday, April 18, as well as live and on demand on Paramount+.
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