Kenny Rogers - Biography

Last Editor: dp_guy				Kenny Rogers Biography -   Name : Kenny Rogers Birth Name : Kenneth Donald Rogers Date of Birth : 21 August 1938 Place of Birth : Houston, Texas, USA Nationality : American Profession : Actor, Singer Sometimes Called : The First Edition Kenneth Ray Rogers

Kenny Rogers Trivia -

Singer/actor He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care." song "We Are The World." Is a well-respected photographer; was invited to the White House to create a portrait of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for the 1993 CBS-TV special, "A Day in the Life of Country Music." Established the Athens Area Homeless Shelter in 1990 in Georgia. Named "Favorite Singer of All Time" in a 1986 "PM Magazine/USA Today" poll. Voted "Favorite Male Vocalist" in 1989 by "People" magazine readers. Was awarded the Recording Industry Association of America's prestigious Diamond Award, celebrating sales of more than 10 million albums for his "Greatest Hits" album. [March 1999] His high school vocal group's original song "That Crazy Feeling" landed them a spot on television's "Bandstand" (1952). Father of Kenny Rogers Jr. He and his fifth wife, Wanda are expecting twins in summer 2004. It will be the couples' first children. On a lark, he once performed as himself as part of the "Legends In Concert" impersonators show at the Imperial Palace Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. He sang the duet "Islands In the Stream" with the Dolly Parton impersonator. Several people from the audience interviewed after the show didn't realize that he was the real thing. Identical twin sons, Justin Charles (6 pounds, 10 ounces) and Jordan Edward (5 pounds, 8 ounces) were born July 6, 2004 in Atlanta, Georgia. His wife, Wanda, is an identical twin, and twins also run in Kenny's family. Co-host, with Lorianne Crook, of an infomercial for "Superstars of Country" collection of country music. [2005]

Kenny Rogers Detailed Biography -

Born in Texas, the fourth of eight children, singer Kenny Rogers grew up in a poor area of Houston where his father worked in a shipyard and his mother in a hospital. Kenny Rogers became the first member of his family to graduate from high school. He took an interest in singing while quite young and as a teenager joined a doo-wop recording group who called themselves "The Scholars." At age 19, Kenny Rogers recorded "That Crazy Feeling" for a small Houston label, Carlton Records, and Kenny Rogers's career was off and running. Kenny joined the "New Christy Minstrels" in the mid-1960s, then splintered off with others in the popular group to form "The First Edition." Their first big soft-rock hit, "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" hit #6 on the US charts, while later successes included "Something's Burning," "Just Dropped In," "Tell It All Brother" and "Reuben James." The husky-framed singer's ingratiating personality and sensual gravel tones soon took center stage and the group eventually renamed themselves "Kenny Rogers and the First Edition." They hosted a syndicated TV variety series from 1971 to 1973 called "Rollin' on the River" but the pressures of taping a weekly show caused extreme friction within the group and eventually took its toll. After a couple of years of producing non-hit songs, the group disbanded in the mid-70s. Solo stardom seemed to be inevitable for Kenny Rogers and he began chalking up a string of country-tinged 'top 20' pop hits with "Lucille" (#5), "Don't Fall in Love With a Dreamer" (#4, with Kim Carnes), "Through the Years" (#13), "We've Got Tonight" (#6, with Sheena Easton") and his two #1 hit sellers "Islands in the Stream" (with Dolly Parton) and "Lady." By the late 1970s he had sold over $100 million worth of records. The 1980s would tell a different story. Normally considered an easygoing talent, Kenny Rogers was unflatteringly dubbed the "overweight lightweight" by Rolling Stone Magazine, and the silvery-maned Kenny soon experienced a major slump. After charting lower and lower, Kenny Rogers wisely branched off into other successful areas. In 1980 he touched off a modest, but appealing acting career with the TV-movie "The Gambler," based on his 1979 song hit. This led to four equally popular sequels. Kenny Rogers also became a perennial star or co-star of TV seasonal specials. In addition, Kenny Rogers published several books on photography and opened a rotisserie-chicken fast-food franchise. Less and less visible in the ensuing years, Kenny Rogers produced the 1999 album "She Rides Wild Horses," which peaked at #6 on the country charts, his highest in 15 years, and included the #1 single "Buy Me a Rose." Spending a lot of time breeding Arabian horses and cattle on a 1,200-acre Georgia farm, Kenny's seems settled with fifth wife Wanda Miller, who he married in 1997. One of his sons, Kenny Rogers, Jr., once followed in his father's bootsteps, briefly launching his own singing career in 1989 with "Take Another Step Closer." He now is on the business end of entertainment providing music for TV and movies. Kenny's other two children are Carole and Christopher.