Nice one, my Sun ... Chesney checks
CHESNEY Hawkes shot to fame when he reached No1 as a baby-faced 19-year-old with the track The One And Only.
But when he failed to follow the chart-topping tune with another hit he vanished off the music radar.
However, thanks to stints on reality shows The Games and Hit Me Babe One More Time, Chesney - now 33 - hopes he's back for good.
The star hit the top spot in 1991 and his single stayed there for five weeks - making it the 20th biggest selling song of the decade.
Girls were throwing themselves at him, the track reached the US Top 10 and his career appeared to be flying - but then it all went wrong.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online, he recalled: "None of us expected The One And Only to be the huge No1 that it was.
"But when it was, I just presumed that was what happened when you put out records. I guess I thought it would carry on, but life isn't like that."
He went on: "At the time I was a bit gutted that it went a bit sour.
"I'm glad it happened the way it did - because it has made me a more balanced person. But I do feel a little bit let down by record companies."
After Chesney's album slumped two years later, he decided to move to the US where he made a living writing for other acts and gigging with different bands.
In that time he penned hundreds of songs - including tracks for A1, Tricky, Hear'Say and Caprice - and at one stage was knocking out four a week.
He said: "I played in lots of grotty little clubs. It got quite bad and I was pretty much broke.
"At one point me and my band were staying in Los Angeles above, well, an hourly rate hotel, shall we say.
"There were four of us living in this one-bedroom apartment with a red neon light flashing outside the window. It was crazy looking back."
But was he ever tempted to chuck it all in?
"Never," he says. "I've always made a living through music. Even when I was fourteen-years-old I was playing piano at weddings, wine bars and bar mitzvahs.
"I would sit there playing Elton John, Billy Joel and Elton John covers. I was the piano man."
In 2001, Chesney got a call from a small agency in the Midlands asking if he'd like to play a couple of student union gigs.
He didn't know it at the time, but agreeing to play would prove to kick-start a new line of gigging at universities up and down the country.
Chesney told us: "I was kind of nervous, thinking 'there's no way these students are going to remember The One And Only or me'.
"But I'll never forget the moment I was introduced on to the stage and 3000 people with banners went crazy, throwing knickers and everything.
"Since that day I've never looked back and have performed to well over 500,000 people in the last few years as a result."
Chesney - who now has two children with model wife Kristina - joked that getting babes would be easier now than in his teen heart-throb days.
He said: "The trouble back then was that a lot of the fans were far too young. My fanbase was made up of 13-year-old girls.
"It would be much better now because my sort of crowd is students who are a bit older!"
Chesney went on to attract a lot more attention earlier this year when he appeared on Channel 4's The Games alongside stars including sexy TV presenter Kirsty Gallagher, So Solid's Lisa Maffia and Brookside actor Philip Olivier.
He agreed to do the show after turning down a string of offers to appear on big-money programmes like Big Brother and I'm A Celeb.
He said: "I just liked the idea of The Games because it was more about the sport than just being a celebrity for the sake of being a celebrity.
"Going into it I had never done any sport in my life and I found it really hard. But it has changed my life and I'm now quite a fit person."
After completing the gruelling show, he agreed to battle it out on another reality TV programme - ITV's Hit Me Baby One More Time.
Music stars from the past perform on the show and the public vote for their favourite act in a sort of nostalgic pop idol.
Singing his classic tune - plus a cover of Robbie Williams' She's The One - Chesney last week won through to Saturday night's live final.
And once it is finished, win or lose, he's mounting a fresh chart challenge with a new single called Another Fine Mess - out Monday - to prove he's more than just a one-hit blunder.
He said: "It's a bit weird being back in the limelight, but it's good because now instead of people shouting 'I Am The One And Only" I get 'Nice high-jump Chesney!'
"I think the difference now is this is on my terms, I have creative control of the music which is what I always wanted.
"After I've put out my single, and then my album, I'll be back touring again. I've got so many dates in the book it's hard to see much further than that.
"Perhaps a beach with my wife somewhere - and all the girls from The Games!"
Sun
