Getty Not much is known about Jean Rogers, who was married to Kenny Rogers from 1960 to 1963.
Legendary country music singer Kenny Rogers died on Friday at the age of 81 from natural causes. He had a music career that spanned six decades, 24 No. 1 hits, three Grammy Awards and six Country Music Awards. He was also married five times, which might lead some fans to wonder about his past relationships.
The Legend’s Second Marriage Was to Jean Rogers
They were married from 1960 to 1963 and they did not have any children together. Not too much is known about Rogers’ second wife. However, during an interview with The Independent, he revealed that both he and Jean Rogers grew apart.
Rogers knew he wanted to be married again after his relationship with Janice Gordon, his first wife, didn’t work out. “That lasted only two years because her mother didn’t believe in the marriage and came and took her away from me,” he told The Independent.
“Yet that’s when I realized I loved being married so I got married again, almost immediately. That only lasted three years because we finally realized, ‘This isn’t right’ – and in the end, it was boring for me and for her.”
Roger’s marriage to Gordon last from 1958 to 1960. He then said “I do” to Jean Rogers. Margo Anderson was his third wife. They stayed together from 1964 to 1976. Following his breakup with Anderson, he wed Marianne Gordon. When they split in 1993, she received $60 million in a divorce settlement, which became one of the expensive divorces in celebrity history.
Rogers remained single for a few years after his fourth divorce, but in 1997 he married Wanda Miller, the woman who he would later call his “soul mate.”
Rogers maintained he truly loved every woman he walked down the aisle with. “This may seem like an absurd statement, but every woman I married, I really loved when I married her,” he told Reuters in 2012.
He never blamed any of his ex-wives for their marriages not working. Instead, he said it was the nature of the entertainment industry.
“I blame myself and my chosen field of music. That’s why I say that music is a mistress because you can’t wait to get out there to it, and usually, the mistress wins in a situation like that,” he explained to Reuters. “That’s kind of what happened to me. Hey, you can’t say I’m afraid of commitment. I’ve been married five times.”
The Rogers family is sad to announce that Kenny Rogers passed away last night at 10:25PM at the age of 81. Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family. t.co/adxAgiMW2s
The Star Retired So He Could Put His Family First
Spending more time with his family was the reason the star retired in 2015.
“I’ve been so lucky to have enjoyed such a long career and to have such amazing support from my fans and all who have helped me along the way, but there comes a time when I need to focus on spending time with my family,” he said on his website at the time.
“My life is about my wife and my 11-year-old twin boys right now. There are a lot of things I want to do together with them to create some special memories. I don’t have a bucket list of my own,” the statement continued. “I have a bucket list of things I want to do with them.”
Rogers’ Is A Music Legend
Rogers was known for hits like “Islands In The Stream,” “Lady,” “Lucille,” “The Gambler,” “She Believes In Me,” and “Through the Years,” to name a few. In the U.S. alone, he sold more than 50 million albums.
His 1978 hit “The Gambler,” inspired various TV movies, and included Rogers as the star.
Rogers’ publicist, Keith Hagan, announced the star’s death on Twitter Saturday morning. “Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family,” the statement said. “In a career that spanned more than six decades, Kenny Rogers left an indelible mark on the history of American music.”
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