''Cosmic Hallelujah'' is the seventeenth studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country singer. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, he released his debut, '' In My Wildest Dreams'', in 1994, and has since released 19 follow-ups. His albums spawned 27 singles tha ...

. It was released on October 28, 2016, by Blue Chair and Columbia Nashville. The album was originally scheduled for release July 8, 2016, under the title ''Some Town Somewhere''. The song "Jesus and Elvis" also appears on songwriter Hayes Carll's 2019 album ''What It Is''. Additionally, "Winnebago" was later recorded by its writer

David Lee Murphy David Lee Murphy (born January 7, 1959) is an American country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American ...

on his 2018 album '' No Zip Code''.

Critical reception

''Cosmic Hallelujah'' has generally received positive reviews from critics.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave the album a very positive review, saying that "Chesney is determined to connect with his times without abandoning himself, and the result is one of his best records."

Maura Johnston Maura K. Johnston (born May 28, 1975) is a writer, editor and music critic. A member of Boston College's journalism faculty, she has written for ''Rolling Stone'', ''The Boston Globe'', ''Pitchfork'', ''The Awl'', ''The New York Times'', ''Spin' ...

of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' also gave the album a positive review, saying that "Chesney isn’t one to rest on his laurels, and his 17th album, ''Cosmic Hallelujah'', bears that out."

Accolades

Commercial performance

''Cosmic Hallelujah'' debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart with 89,000 units, with 79,000 of that figure being pure album sales. It was the best-selling album of the week in terms of physical sales and downloads. The album also debuted at number one on the

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...

chart. As of December 2017, the album has sold 239,500 copies in the United States.

Track listing

Personnel

* Wyatt Beard – background vocals * Kenny Chesney – lead vocals *

Ross Copperman Ross Copperman (born October 1, 1982) is an American Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and record producer. After his experience as an artist in the UK, Copperman went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he pursued a career in country music. He ha ...

– background vocals *

Chad Cromwell Chad Cromwell (born June 14, 1957) is an American rock drummer whose music career has spanned more than 30 years. He is the founding member of a band called Fortunate Sons, which released a self-titled album in 2004. Cromwell has worked with mu ...

– drums *

Kenny Greenberg Kenneth S. Greenberg is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer, and session musician. He is known for bringing a rock-and-roll sensibility to Nashville recording sessions. Biography Greenberg was born in Cleveland, Ohio but attended junio ...

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar *

Jesse Frasure Jesse Vernon Frasure (born September 18, 1981), also known as DJ Telemitry, is an American music publisher, record producer, songwriter, and DJ. He has written 22 number one songs and has cuts with various artists including Chris Stapleton, M ...

– background vocals * David Huff – percussion, programming *

Brett James Brett James Cornelius (born June 5, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records (a ...

– background vocals *

Shane McAnally Shane Lamar McAnally (born October 12, 1974) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. He debuted as a singer in 1999 with his Shane McAnally (album), self-titled album on Curb Records. This project produced three sing ...

– background vocals * Rob McNelley – electric guitar *

Allison Moorer Allison Moorer (born June 21, 1972) is an American Country music, country singer-songwriter. She signed with MCA Nashville in 1997 and made her debut on the U.S. Billboard Country Chart with the release of her debut single, "A Soft Place to F ...

– background vocals on "Jesus and Elvis" * Heather Morgan – background vocals *

Greg Morrow Greg Morrow is an American drummer, percussionist, session musician, mixing engineer, and vocalist. Biography Morrow was born in Ripley, Tennessee and raised in Memphis. At age 11, Morrow and his band performed on a local TV show, and he par ...

– drums,

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell (instrument), bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. ...

– background vocals * Josh Osborne – background vocals *

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

– duet vocals on "Setting the World on Fire" * Danny Rader – banjo, bouzouki, acoustic guitar,

tres Tres may refer to: * Tres (instrument), a Cuban musical instrument * Tres, Trentino, municipality in Italy * ''Tres'' (2014 film), a Filipino anthology drama film based on short stories * "Tres" (song) by Juanes *"Tres", a song by Líbido from thei ...

* Michael Rhodes – bass guitar * Mike Rojas – accordion, keyboards,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

, piano, synthesizer,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

* F. Reid Shippen – programming, Wurlitzer *

Jimmie Lee Sloas Jimmie Lee Sloas is an American session musician, producer, and songwriter, who plays bass. History Jimmie Lee Sloas, born in Ashland, Kentucky, grew up in Fairborn, Ohio and Isonville, Kentucky. His father, Dave, was a member of the popular ...

– bass guitar * Caitlyn Smith – backing vocals on "All the Pretty Girls" * Derek Wells – acoustic guitar, electric guitar

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Kenny Chesney albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Buddy Cannon