Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift in Nashville in March 2015.

Kenny Chesney easily recognized Taylor Swift’s talent – but not her impact on music and the world at large.

After Swift told a sweet story about the country superstar, 55, on her recent Time cover, Chesney opened up about his first impressions of the “Karma” singer, 34, in a new interview with USA Today .

Chesney’s 2007 Flip-Flop summer tour was originally intended to feature the then 17-year-old Swift as opening act, but she was later dropped from the concert due to her age after a beer company became a sponsor. “I was devastated,” she recalled to Time .

Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift in Nashville in April 2007.

Determined to rectify the situation, the “Out Last Night” singer gave Swift a note that read, “I’m sorry you couldn’t make it on tour, so I wanted to make it up to you,” she said. tell the store. , along with a check “for more money than I have ever seen in my life.”

“I was able to pay my band a bonus. I was able to pay for my tour bus,” Swift said in the interview. “I was able to fuel my dream.”

After reading Time’s story, Chesney spoke with the “Lavender Haze” musician about that moment. “I texted her and said thank you for the love, and I was surprised she remembered that,” he told USA Today .

Taylor Swift performs in Singapore on March 2, 2024.

Looking back, he certainly didn’t regret giving her the money. “To see what she did with that and the person she is now, the artist she is now and the creator she is now — it’s unbelievable what she’s become,” Chesney said. any”.

“I love Taylor,” he continued. “She has a creative soul and that’s where it all started. Everything you see, the stadium shows and the big shows, is amazing. But I believe she is still a musician at heart. That is something no one can deny.”

While Chesney couldn’t predict the future, he realized how talented Swift was when he almost took her on tour. “I saw it early on, but I didn’t know it would turn into this. When she couldn’t come on our tour and then she surprised me at a few shows and came on stage to sing with me, I saw that look in her eyes that you can’t teach. okay,” the performer added.

Kenny Chesney in Miami in January 2020.

“I told my promoter, ‘This kid is going to be something someday,’” Chesney detailed. “But who can look into a crystal ball and know that she will help bring the world together?”

Although the pair haven’t linked up for an official collaboration, they’ve been on stage together for multiple shows — including stops in Nashville on Swift’s 2011 Speak Now Tour and performing Chesney’s The Big Revival 2015.

Shortly after Swift’s Time story came out in late 2023, Chesney expressed similar sentiments on Instagram. “Taylor, I knew when I looked into your eyes for the first time on stage with us, you had ‘it’. Longing, something special… A gift not everyone has to connect,” he wrote at the time. “I’m so proud of you and I love you.”