Kenny Chesney is getting to work helping relief and rebuilding efforts in the Virgin Islands in the wake of Hurricane Irma.
The country music star announced his intentions to offer aid and raise money for residents of the Caribbean due to his own personal connection to the area, having owned an estate on St. John for close to two decades.
His 10,657-square foot home, which also features 9,157 square feet of deck space, was among those that suffered damage when Irma came barreling through the region last week.
It is at that estate where Chesney, 49, married Oscar-winning actress Renee Zelweger back in 2005 before she filed for divorce after just 128 days, citing fraud in court papers.
That quickly led to rumors that Chesney was gay, which he dismissed as untrue.
Chesney also said on Monday that he was recording music to help efforts, and posted a photo of himself in the studio.
Lending a hand: Kenny Chesney has created the Love for Love City Foundation to help aid efforts in the Virgin Islands in the wake of Hurricane Irma (Chesney in 2005 after marrying Renee Zellweger at his St John home)
Stunned: The country music star, 49, has owned a villa (above) on the island of St John for the past 15 years
Destruction: ‘I don’t know what to say. I’ve never been in war, but the devastation, the people’s faces in a place I know by heart have left me feeling helpless,’ he said (St John post-Irma above)
‘As daylight is hitting the islands, and we’re really getting a sense of how bad this all is…’ wrote Chesney on social media
‘I don’t know what to say. I’ve never been in war, but the devastation, the people’s faces in a place I know by heart have left me feeling helpless. It’s total devastation.’
Chesney is now asking his fans to send in donations to his newly launched Love for Love City Foundation.
‘These are people who live off the sea, who depend on it. They live right there, and it’s gone. Most everyone’s displaced. They are frightened, confused, and they don’t know where help is going to come from,’ explained Chesney.
‘Those lives have changed and will never be the same. Those small islands are hard to get to and they rely on each other to get through what life hands them.’
He then added: ‘For all of them, though, they’ve been where I’ve leaned for emotional and creative support for fifteen years because they are so generous.’
Chesney also encouraged all his fans to ‘remember to spread the love.’
The notoriously private Chesney shocked many when it was revealed that he and Zellweger had married back in 2005 after just a few months of dating, having met in January of that year.
There was more shock to come just a few months later when Zellweger filed for divorce.
Getting started: Chesney also said on Monday that he was recording music to help efforts, and posted a photo of himself in the studio (above)
Wiped clean: The road leading to Chesney’s villa were destroyed by the storm
Crammed: ‘These are people who live off the sea, who depend on it. They live right there, and it’s gone. Most everyone’s displaced. They are frightened, confused, and they don’t know where help is going to come from,’ explained Chesney of residents
Chesney spoke about the split in a 2009 interview with Playboy, one of the rare occasions on which he has commented on his public life.
‘I have friends who have a normal family, kids and a dog, and I think I would blow my brains out’ said Chesney.
‘It’s fine for them. But I’m such a free spirit, I feel more alive when I’ve got somewhere to go. I can stay on my boat for a few weeks if I have a guitar and a girl and a Bob Marley CD. After that, I’ve got to move around.’
In that same interview he also expressed his exasperation that people would think that he was gay.
‘That is the most unbelievable thing in the world. ‘Because Renee cited fraud, Kenny’s got to be gay.’ What guy who loves girls wouldn’t be angry about that s***?’ said Chesney, who is close friends with retired quarterback Peyton Manning.
‘I didn’t sign up for that. I think people need to live their lives the way they want to, but I’m pretty confident in the fact that I love girls. I’ve got a long line of girls who could testify that I am not gay.’
Zellweger meanwhile told The Advocate that she was hurt to hear people refer to Chesney as gay after the split.
‘That made me sad. It made me sad that somehow people were using that as a way to be cruel and calling someone gay as a pejorative, which has fateful consequences,’ said the actress.
She also stated in that same interview the she had forgotten about her union with the country music star, commenting: ‘It’s a pretty big thing to forget, isn’t it?’