Watch Kenny Chesney’s Jonathan Demme-Directed ‘Somewhere With You’ Clip
Director Jonathan Demme is perhaps best known for his 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, the iconic horror thriller for which he won Best Director at the Academy Awards. However, Demme also worked on a number of music-based projects throughout his career: He directed music videos for Bruce Springsteen and New Order, documentaries about Neil Young and Justin Timberlake ... and a concert film for Kenny Chesney.
In 2012, Chesney celebrated the release of his Welcome to the Fishbowl album with a live-streamed concert, directed by Demme. More than 20,000 fans packed New Jersey's Wildwood Beach for Chesney and Demme's American Express Unstaged show, during which Chesney performed 27 songs and broke the location's attendance record.
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"Jonathan Demme understood how to capture music on film in a way that kept the heart and the energy intact," Chesney tells Rolling Stone Country. "I learned so much watching him work ... about songs I already knew -- and his love for how music looks when it’s being played live has stayed with me."
Readers can press play above to watch Chesney's American Express Unstaged performance of his song "Somewhere With You." In addition to the onstage footage of Chesney, Demme also captured backstage and behind-the-scenes moments.
Demme died on Wednesday (April 26), in his apartment in New York City, surrounded by his wife and three children, the Associated Press reports. His publicist says that his death was due to complications from esophageal cancer. Demme was 73 years old.
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