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Sunday April 27, 2008

Country music star Kenny Chesney was injured during a concert in Columbia, South Carolina Saturday night – but carried on with the show despite his pain.

Bones in his foot were crushed during an equipment malfunction as his performance began.

Chesney’s foot was stuck for about 30 seconds between the stage and a lift that elevated him to the stage at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The 40-year-old singer did not acknowledge the incident on stage, though he was limping and holding his knee.

After the show, doctors from the University of South Carolina cut off Chesney’s boot to minimize damage.

“I took one look at those fans, and there was no way I wasn’t going on,” Chesney said in a statement. “Sometimes the energy and the adrenalin pull you through.”

He added, “They had come to rock, and there was no way I was sending them home with anything less than the best of what me and my guys came to do – put it all out there and give them back at least as good as they gave us.”

Chesney was the final act for the first stadium show of the Poets & Pirates tour, which included performances by LeAnn Rimes and Brooks & Dunn.