Kenny Chesney’s Drunk Dial Wins Him Lionel Richie Duet

Not all drunk dials are regretted in the morning. A spirited and intoxicated voicemail from country star Kenny Chesney to Lionel Richie ended up landing Chesney a spot on Richie’s new album Tuskegee—a country compilation featuring duets of some of his biggest hits over the last five decades. Chesney knew he wanted to sing “My Love” on the album, so he dialed Richie after drinking a couple of bottles of wine and left him an impromptu audition on his voicemail. “I just decided that I was going to call Lionel and tell him I wanted to sing on his record,” says Chesney. “It was a pretty spirited voicemail, I can tell you that, because I actually sang the verse and like half of the song of ‘My Love’ onto his voicemail.” Chesney called again the next morning to apologize, but apparently it wasn't necessary; Richie granted him the chance to sing the song on the record. The original version of “My Love,” which featured the vocals of Kenny Rogers, cracked the top five on the pop charts in 1983.