>Kenny Chesney

Kenny Chesney built his career the old-fashioned way: mile by mile. Country music's latest singing cowboy has added to his fan base by crisscrossing the country a dozen times in the past six years with his four-piece band. The result? Each of his five albums, from his 1993 debut In My Wildest Dreams to his newest platinum-selling disc Everywhere We Go, has mustered ever-larger sales. "I really love that," says Chesney, 31, who has already booked more than 120 gigs for this year, "because it means people are getting into the music."

And buying it. The Luttrell, Tenn., native, who used to park cars when guitar-picking wouldn't pay the rent, struck musical gold earlier this year with the first two singles from Everywhere. Both "How Forever Feels"—only the third single in 22 years to stay atop Billboard's country music chart for six weeks—and "You Had Me at Hello," were No. 1 hits. The latter was written on a tour bus while Chesney was watching Jerry Maguire. "When Renée Zellweger said that line," he says, "I thought, 'That could be a great song.' "

Chesney, who is single and lives in Nashville, is learning about fame's perils. When officials put up road signs throughout his hometown that said, Home of the Country Star Kenny Chesney: Luttrell, Tenn., the signs were stolen the same day. His mother and grandmother weren't pleased. Says Chesney: "I told 'em, 'Don't worry, because somebody will appear with it in an autograph line and ask, 'Hey, can you sign this?' "