Meet Kenny Rogers’ 5 Wives: Who He Had Kids With and Who Got a $60 Million Divorce Settlement

Kenny Rogers’ career spanned decades and genres, and though the crooner sang of love and romance from time to time, it took the “Coward of the Country” singer a few tries to get the marriage thing right. Before his death in 2020, Kenny Rogers was married five times, and left behind a widow, Wanda Rogers, and five children. Here, read all about Kenny Rogers’ romantic past, previous partners, and what he’s said about his former wives. “You can’t say I’m afraid of commitment,” the singer told Fox News back in 2012. “I’ve been married five times!”

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Janice Gordon: Rogers married his first wife in 1958

Rogers married his first wife, Janice, when she was 19 years old, after she got pregnant with his first child, Carol Lynne. Their marriage only lasted two years, and in the years after they split, Rogers didn’t keep close contact with his eldest. “That was my promise to them, that I would be her father but he (Janice’s second husband) would be her Dad, and I don’t want to disrupt that,” he revealed to Fox News in 2012. “He stepped in at a time that was really awkward for all of us and he became her Dad, and I love him for that. He was a good guy.”

Jean Rogers: The singer tied the knot with his second wife two years later

Rogers’ second wife Jean, who he was married to for three years, went relatively under the radar. “I soon realised that I love being in love, and I love the high you do get from caring about someone and having someone care about you,” Rogers recalled to the Irish Independent back in 2006 of his early days of romance. “That’s a great place to be, and this is something I realised not long after I left high school.”

Margo Anderson: In 1964, Kenny and Margo made things official

Rogers had his second child, Kenny, Jr., with his third wife Margo, and despite the fact that they welcomed a child together and stayed together until 1976, the singer talked about the sometimes-volatile nature of their marriage in his book, Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir.

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“I don’t ever like to blame someone else, but in this case, [the fights] were all her fault,” Rogers wrote in the book. “The good news is, I didn’t have to remember any of my shortcomings because she did and didn’t hesitate to remind me.”

Marianne Gordon: Kenny married the actress in 1977

Rogers married actress Marianne Gordon back in 1977. While they were married, they welcomed a son, Chris, and the duo remained married until 1993. Famously, Gordon received a $60 million divorce settlement, which Rogers discussed in an interview with the Irish Independent back in 2006. “But Marianne really did deserve the 60 million because she is a great girl and we had a perfect marriage for 15 years,” he shared. “In fact, everything was fine until our son Christopher was born—but I wouldn’t want him to take any responsibility for this—because that’s when Marianne stopped touring with me and stayed home to take care of him, and then when I came home from touring or doing a tennis tournament, I found that our lifestyles were clashing. So one day we just said, ‘Life is short, we deserve to be happy, let’s find something else to do with our lives,’ and the marriage ended.”

Wanda Rogers: Kenny remained married to Wanda up until his passing

Kenny Rogers’ fifth wife, Wanda, is the woman he remained married to up until his 2020 passing. The pair got married in 1997 and had two children together. “Kenny gave me his very best and he wanted me to move on and be happy,” she told People in 2023. “That’s a really big man to be able to say those words and mean it. I think it just shows the kind of guy he was,” she shared, referring to when her husband told her he wanted her to move on once he passed.