Kenny Chesney taps Carrie Underwood for new dates

Country star Kenny Chesney has chosen "American Idol" winner Carrie Underwood to appear as a special guest on a newly announced batch of "The Road & The Radio" shows that stretch from June 1 through Labor Day.

"I saw Kenny in concert when I was 16 years old and it's now a dream come true to be going on tour with him," Underwood said in a press release.

"As a record label mate, he has been very encouraging since my album came out and I have great admiration for him for all he's done in his career," she added.

Underwood will perform 40 of her own dates this summer along with the 20 Chesney performances that she will open. She begins her schedule--which focuses on the fair and festival circuit--in April, and her itinerary currently shows more than 40 dates scattered through October.

"It is so thrilling to be able to get back out and perform for the fans again," Underwood said in a press release. "We put a band together last year to launch the album with radio and television promotion. We are all itching to get on a bus and really travel across the states and see the real America."

Underwood continues to back her debut album, "Some Hearts," which has sold more than two-million copies since its November 2005 release. "Jesus Take the Wheel," the album's somber lead single, topped Billboard's country singles chart for six consecutive weeks

Chesney hits the road in late March with show-openers Sugarland and Dierks Bentley in tow through early June.

Released in November, "The Road & The Radio" is the second of two albums that Chesney offered last year; the first, "Be As You Are: Songs from an Old Blue Chair," surfaced last January. Both discs debuted atop The Billboard 200 album chart.

According to concert industry magazine Pollstar, Chesney was the most successful country touring act of 2005, grossing $61.8 million over 71 shows.