Country star reveals what happened when he took off his football helmet in high school, and why he’s thankful it happened early

Kenny Chesney is sharing a personal story from his younger days. The 57-year-old country singer talked about losing his hair as a teenager in his new book Heart Life Music, which will be available soon.

Chesney’s mom Karen worked as a hairdresser when he was growing up. He remembers how she would practice on him while she was learning at beauty school. “My mom went to beauty school – my God, she’s going to kill us [for this story] – and I was her guinea pig on how to do stuff. And I’d go to school smelling like all these chemicals,” Chesney told People while laughing about the memory.

Things got worse when Chesney played football in high school. He started noticing his hair falling out in big chunks. “I remember playing high school football, and I’d take my helmet off, and I’d see all this hair in there, and I was freaking out!” the Country Music Hall of Fame member said. He was just 19 years old when this was happening to him.

Losing his hair young turned out to be a good thing

Even though it was scary back then, Chesney thinks it worked out well for him. He said that dealing with hair loss when he was young has made things easier now that he is older.

“Now though, in my life, I’m really glad that happened early because I have friends my age who are losing their hair, and they are really freaking out,” Chesney explained. Because he went through it so young, he had time to get used to it before his friends started facing the same problem.

Chesney says he got different things from each of his parents. His dad Dave gave him a “love of sports” and “discipline.” His mom Karen is who he thanks for his “love of the ocean, the love of sunlight, the love of music and the love of love.” Other celebrities have also been opening up about unexpected life changes recently.

When Chesney thinks about losing his hair early, he feels like it helped him stay young at heart. “In ways, I don’t really age,” he says. “I kind of stay the same because of it!” Justin Bieber recently shared his own controversial views on relationships and personal boundaries.

Chesney talks about this and other stories from his life in Heart Life Music. The book will be in stores on November 4.