Taylor Swift, Time's Person of the Year, reveals how Kenny Chesney helped fuel her dreams

In 2023, one thing is clear: This is Taylor's Swift's world and we're all just living in it. From her record-shattering Eras tour to being named Spotify's most-streamed artist in the world and now, Time magazine's Person of the Year, Swift has been having all the moments in the spotlight.

At the very beginning of the Time profile, Swift gives a shout-out to country star Kenny Chesney, a Knoxville native, in which she details the time when, at 17, she got kicked off a big tour as an opener because she was underage.

“This was going to change my career,” she told Time. “I was so excited.”

It turned out that Chesney’s tour had been sponsored by a beer company, so Swift was too young to join. “I was devastated,” Swift said in the interview.

But Chesney came through for her in a big way, Swift said, sending her a card and a check on her 18th birthday “for more money than I’d ever seen in my life. I was able to pay my band bonuses. I was able to pay for my tour buses. I was able to fuel my dreams.”

Kenny Chesney returned the shout-out on Instagram

After the news broke that Swift had been named Time's Person of the Year, Chesney was quick to express his love and support.

"Taylor, I knew looking in your eyes that first time on stage with us, you had 'it,'" Chesney posted on Instagram. "It’s been awesome watching you shine!"

Chesney added, "I’m glad TIME sees what I’ve always loved about your music, your art and you as a human being. I’m so proud of you and I love you."

Kenny Chesney met Taylor Swift before she was signed to a label

Chesney told Taste of Country in 2011 that he met Swift at an airport when she was an unsigned teenager. He had a funny postscript about the incident that Swift recounts in her Time interview, saying the two were both nominated for Country Music Awards Entertainer of the Year and she won.

"So, I’m backstage and I come up behind her and gave her a hug and said, 'I want my money back,'" Chesney joked. "I haven’t gotten it back yet, but maybe I will one day, who knows."

The two have remained friends over the years and Swift memorably surprised Chesney when she popped in during the opening night of his Big Revival tour in 2015. The recording of their "Big Star" duet ended up on Chesney's "Live In No Shoes Nation."

"She surprised me on my birthday and we were able to capture that moment for (the) record,” Chesney told Taste of Country. “I wanted to surprise the audience. She was surprising me, and I wanted to surprise the audience. And honestly, Taylor Swift needs no introduction.”

Liz Kellar is a Tennessee Connect reporter. Email liz.kellar@knoxnews.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Taylor Swift shouts out Kenny Chesney in Time's Person of the Year