This article was updated on March 8, 2021 by Vanessa Shumbanhete

Kenneth Ray Rogers was an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and entrepreneur, who gave heart-warming performances with his distinctive voice for over 60 years all across the world. He passed away with a net worth of $250 million.

Born on August 21, 1938 in Houston Texas, the country music star was the fourth out of seven sons of Edward Floyd Rogers and Lucille. Kenny knew he wanted to become a singer and pursue a music career, however it was not an as easy journey. Before Kenny became famous, he worked as a busboy at the Rice Hotel in Houston. He also cleaned the floor in a hat shop to earn some extra cents. Determined not to be like his alcoholic father, Rogers worked hard for every cent he made and used it wisely. Kenny was the first person in his family to graduate high school, just before he started his first band in the late 1950’s (the group was called "The Scholars"). Initially, Kenny was not the lead singer of the band, but he had his own spotlight number called “Moonlight in Vermont”. Their band managed to have a few local hits that sold around Houston. After he graduated high school, he went on to record two more songs, "We'll Always Fall in Love Again" and "For You Alone" with the band The Scholars. Afterwards, he attended the University of Texas, but eventually dropped out to play the bass in the "Bobby Doyle Three" band. They released an album called "In a Most Unusual Way", however, Kenny still left the band to join the "Kirby Stone Four".

In 1958, Kenny then had a breakthrough when he recorded the hit single “That Crazy Feeling”.  In the early years of his music career, he would experiment with many different styles of music. He played bass in a jazz group and tried folk-style pop when he joined the band New Christy Minstrels in 1996.  Kenny had another hit; the psychedelic song “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” with the group First Edition.

During the mid-1970s, Kenny attempted to have a solo career, and this time, he was successful, as he mainly focused on country music. The singer gained mainstream success for hits like "The Gambler" and "Islands in the Stream." Rogers, who was one of country music’s first acts to sell out arenas, when he released his Greatest Hits LP in 1980, a compilation that has sold in excess of 24 million copies worldwide. His list of successes is endless including 24 number  No. 1 song in the charts, 3 Grammy Awards, 11 People’s Choice Awards, 8 Academy of Country Music Awards, 6 Country Music Association Awards (including the CMA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013), 19 television and movie roles, including voicing a book narrator in How I Met your Mother, s5 episode 5.    Rogers starred as Brady Hawkes in the show '' The Gambler", with the show having over 100 million viewers.

One of Roger's most successful partnerships and business relationships was with country music legend, Dolly Parton. The duo recorded several songs together, the most famous of which, “Islands in the Stream”, was released in 1983.  Their hit topped the charts and won the Academy of Country Music Award for Single of the Year. In 2017, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers performed the song together for the very last time, at Kenny’s final show in Nashville

In his personal life, things were not always as good. Rogers was married 5 times and had 5 children.  His first marriage was to Janice Gordon from 1958 to April 1960 with one child, Carole Lynne.  His second wife was Jean, from October 1960 and divorced in 1963. His third marriage was to Margo Anderson in October 1964, and they parted ways in 1976 with one child. Marianne Gordon was his fourth wife for 17 years, when they divorced they had one child. The divorce to Marianne Gordon cost Kenny $60 million. He told The Independent, “Marianne really did deserve the $60 million because she is a great girl and we had a perfect marriage for 15 years,” His fifth marriage was to Wanda Miller on June 1, 1997. They had twin sons and were married for 22 years until his death.

Kenny was a businessman. He invested in the food industry, then in 1991, he partnered up with the CEO of Kentucky Fried Chicken to launch his own restaurant franchise, Kenny Rogers Roasters, which has 156 chains to-date.  The franchise group would eventually change owners when Kenny sold it to Nathan's famous. Kenny had real-estate property worth over 20 Million, he would even buy property, renovate it and sell it for a higher price, like the one 973-acre country estate in Athens, Georgia, Beaver Dam Farms, was sold on to Wes Adams, a real-estate investor. In the 1980's, he was one of the highest paid entertainers making over $26 Million.

The singer and entrepreneur passed away of natural causes at his Georgia home, according to his family. After 60 years in the music business, as an entrepreneur and philanthropist, the singer left his wealth of 250 million to his wife and children.

SOURCES: Forbes, Newsner, Kenny Rogers

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