Kenny Chesney's tour is somewhere in limbo thanks to a torn ligament.
The chart-topping country crooner has been forced to scuttle the opening weekend of his sold-out Somewhere in the Sun tour following a spill down the stairs.
"My ankle looks like a softball," he related in a statement.
The tour was originally set to kick of in Green Bay, Wisconsin Mar. 10-11 then move to St. Paul, Minnesota, Mar. 12 and then to Fargo, North Dakota the following night. Upon the advice of his Nashville doctors, Chesney has pushed the Green Bay shows back to Mar. 23-24 and the St. Paul show to Mar. 26.
"Mr. Chesney has a severe ligament injury to his right ankle," Dr. Burton Elrod said in a statement.
"He's going to have to undergo extensive and immediate physical therapy and rehab. He's going to have to play sore--with his ankle taped or with a brace under his boot, but he's like an athlete who can perform with some pain. He wants to get back out there, and because he's so athletic and in such good shape, he is going to heal a lot better and quicker than most people."
As for Chesney, he is maintaining a stiff upper lip about the injury.
"I know the fans in Green Bay, Fargo and St Paul are gonna be disappointed," says Chesney. "But they're not half as disappointed as I am about not being there. I was very excited about kicking off this tour, but hopefully this will only be a short setback...and you can bet I'm gonna be real serious about my physical therapy 'cause I wanna be in fighting shape and good to go for the shows."
"We were so in the zone and ready to rock."
It's not all bad news for fans, however. A warm-up gig at Houston's Livestock Show and Rodeo set for Mar. 9 will go on as scheduled because, according to Chesney's statement, the "staging does not support the same level of physical intensity that Chesney's own stage does."
All other Somewhere in the Sun tour dates are unchanged, beginning with a Mar. 17 stop in Tupelo, Mississippi.
One of country's hottest acts, Chesney is fresh off five Academy of Country Music Award nominations Thursday, including Entertainer of the Year. He's looking to add to his trophy case after winning the top two prizes, Entertainer of the Year and Album of the Year (for When the Sun Goes Down) at the Country Music Association Awards in November.
Chesney's latest disc, Be As You Are: Songs from an Old Blue Chair, opened at number one last month. It was his third straight chart-topper, following 2004's When the Sun Goes Down and 2002's No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem.