ST. LOUIS — Kenny Chesney will release “Da Ruba Girl,” a song dedicated to his rescue dog Ruby, on Friday, December 9. Stray Rescue of St. Louis receives 100% of the earnings from the song “Da Ruba Girl.” Anyone who has followed Kenny Chesney on social media in the last few days is aware of the death of his beloved rescue dog, Ruby.

He wrote that the red and white mix “lived her life never holding anything against anybody. She had an ancient, calming soul. She was honest and authentic, she was a protector… Ruby loved the sun and how it felt on her face. She and I had that in common… I’m going to miss her, especially in the mornings. That’s when she and I really connected. So bye-bye, Ruby. You were a very good girl. We loved you, and thank you for teaching us how to love unconditionally. You were one heaven of a dog.” 

The East Tennessee songwriter ended the message with a line from “Da Ruba Girl,” a No Shoes Nation favorite that airs often on Chesney’s SiriusXM channel, No Shoes Radio. After years of demands, the singer known for his introspective songs about the islands and coastal life as well as his high-energy stadium gigs has decided to memorialize Ruby — and help one of the country’s largest pit bull rescue shelters — by making the song accessible in her memory.

“No one had a bigger, bolder heart than Da Ruba Girl, whose name was Ruby,” Chesney explains. “She was a rescue my friend Mary brought into our lives, and she was the most loving, gentle soul. It’s why she inspired the song, and truly how she showed us better ways to be human. Losing her has left a hole there are no words for.”

“And while she was a rescue, she truly rescued every single person who came in contact with her. To honor her life, I wanted that love and her ability to rescue people to continue. I wanted to do something that embodied what she was, and that would also help people know these dogs can save you.”

Chesney said it only made sense to honor her in song. “So, after years of requests, it only made sense to release Ruby’s song and let ‘Da Ruba Girl’ pay it forward by assisting the incredible people at Stray Rescue of St. Louis, who not only worked closely with us after the hurricanes in the Virgin Islands, but who also continue to help find homes for big dogs, old dogs, and especially pit bulls, for which they are one of the largest shelters.”

Starting this Friday, December 9, “Da Ruba Girl” will be available for purchase via iTunes as well as on all streaming platforms, with pre-saving and pre-adding options available. 

All proceeds from the song will be donated to Stray Rescue of St. Louis. Additional donations may be made through their website: www.strayrescue.org. 

Be sure to note the gift “In Honor of Da Ruba Girl”—and help make other abandoned animals’ holidays brighter while they’re waiting for their forever home. 

“They say we rescue them, but I know from experience we’re really the ones who are rescued,” Chesney says. “And I also know some of the biggest angels on earth are the people who work in the shelters, healing these poor, abandoned, often abused babies. Ruby was everything good, and in her memory, this is her way of continuing to give and bring love where it’s most needed.”