Sammy Kershaw (born Samuel Paul Kershaw, February 24, 1958, in Kaplan, Louisiana) is an American Country music singer and songwriter. A relative of Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw, Sammy Kershaw has been active in country music since the release of his debut album Don't Go Near the Water in 1991. To date, he has released ten studio albums, all on major labels, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. He has also charted more than twenty-five singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including the Number One hit "She Don't Know She's Beautiful" and ten additional Top Ten hits.
At the age of eleven, Sammy got his first guitar, a gift from his grandfather. However, his father died that same year. Thereafter young Kershaw worked a variety of jobs by day while playing roadhouses at night to support his family.
He began performing in Acadiana with Louisiana legend J.B. Pere. Subsequently, he opened shows for Ray Price, Merle Haggard and George Jones while barely into his teens. When the pressures of growing up fast took their toll in the form of a serious drug and alcohol problem, he quit his bad habits cold turkey in 1988 and took a break from music to work as a remodeling supervisor at Wal-Mart.
One of Kershaw's demonstration tapes made its way to Mercury Records, which released his debut album in 1991. Among his early hits were "Cadillac Style", "She Don't Know She's Beautiful" and a remake of the Amazing Rhythm Aces' "Third Rate Romance".
Sammy married country singer Lorrie Morgan on September 29, 2001. On October 23, 2007, Morgan filed for divorce from Kershaw citing irreconcilable differences.
Kershaw briefly owned a NASCAR Busch series team (now Nationwide Series) in 1997 with driver Randy Porter and UniFirst uniforms as the primary sponsor. He has released some fourteen albums in his career including I Want My Money Back on Audium Records in 2003.
For a time in the mid-2000s, Kershaw and Morgan owned and operated a chicken restaurant in Nashville and a corresponding website. Both businesses were titled "HotChickens.com".
Kershaw has residences in Nashville, Tennessee, and Abbeville. He established the Sammy Kershaw Foundation in his hometown of Kaplan, donating millions of dollars for the betterment of poverty-stricken children.
Billboard near Louisiana State University at Alexandria promoting Sammy Kershaw campaign for lieutenant governor of Louisiana
On June 13, 2007, Kershaw announced that he intended to be a candidate for lieutenant governor of Louisiana in the October 20, 2007, jungle primary. The position was held by the incumbent Democrat, Mitch Landrieu. Kershaw also faced a second Republican candidate, State Representative Gary Beard of Baton Rouge, an engineer first elected to the state House in a 2001 special election. Kershaw finished second with 30 percent of the vote, but Landrieu won re-election with a majority on the first ballot.
