You Got To Know When To Roast ‘Em
Kenny Rogers Has A New Beard
by Dean “Fuck Kenny Rogers” Bonzani
very late at night on 9.13.04
The downside of being a global celebrity and monumental icon of American popular music is that, occasionally, you are harassed by giant stalks of celery.
The fame accrued by winning the hearts of millions of fans worldwide with his rich (some fans shyly describe it as “sexy”) voice, soul-stirring ballads, reassuring Santa Claus looks, sensitive onscreen portrayals of old west characters, and damned fine cornbread and rotisserie chicken is often beset with peril. Like dodging 7 foot-tall vegetable mascots and autograph hounds. But Rogers, who insists on a life of frenetic activity, takes the tough times in stride, and always comes out on top.
Rogers’ list of accomplishments is lengthy, impressive, and until this moment, incomplete. He’s won four Grammy Awards, 11 People’s Choice Awards, 18 American Music Awards, eight Academy of Country Music Awards and five Country Music Association Awards. He was named “Favorite Singer of All Time” in a PM Magazine/USA Today poll in 1986, and was voted “Favorite Male Vocalist” by People Magazine in 1989. In 1990 he was given the Horatio Alger Award, which is presented to those who have “distinguished themselves despite humble beginnings,” according to his agent’s website. (Rogers was born in Houston, Texas in 1938, had seven siblings, and grew up in a poor section of town.) He’s also a champion of charitable causes, helping to create the World Hunger Media Awards, and devotes a large part of his life to feeding the hungry.
It was his interest in feeding the hungry that also led him to co-found, along with one of the original developers of Kentucky Fried Chicken®, the popular Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants in 1991. A Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant was featured in an episode of “Seinfeld,” where Kramer becomes obsessed with Rogers’ wood-fire rotisserie chicken, with its unique proprietary marinade and spice formula. On the “Conan O’Brien Show,” Conan persuaded Rogers to conduct a blind taste test of three chicken dishes, one from KFC, one from his own restaurant, and one cooked by O’Brien’s own mother. He loved Conan’s mom’s recipe, and didn’t care for his own.
By the mid ‘90’s, there were over 350 Roasters in the U.S., and in 1994, operations in the Pacific Rim began. To date, there are more than 80 Roasters in Malayia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei and China.
Rogers’ healthy, delicious menu was a hit across the globe, but there were some who took a dim view of his chicken.
Iin November of 1999, just after he sold his interest in the chain of restaurants (whose logo featured Rogers’ trademark “Santa face”) to Nathan’s Famous, Inc., who are renowned for their franks and fries, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced that its mascot, a huge green celery stick, would “stalk” Rogers from city to city in Florida as he toured, to protest his former company’s use of product from farmers accused of maltreatment of chickens. Two PETA operatives even dressed up as chickens and greeted guests to Rogers’ 1997 wedding in Georgia, tossing chicken feed and holding up signs that read, “Kenny: ‘I Do’ Torture Chickens?”
Rogers, the star of a total of five television movies based on his hit song “The Gambler,” didn’t respond to accusations.
Controversy has never slowed the prolific entertainer/chicken magnate down. This June, Rogers released a best-of set titled, “Kenny Rogers: 42 Ultimate Hits,” which features songs from throughout the singer’s three-decades-long career, and includes two new tracks titled “We Are The Same” and “My World Is Over,”and has embarked on an extensive tour.
But the real excitement is at home, where the singer, who has sold more than 100 million records, has a brand new pair of knee biters.
The 65-year-old country music legend became the father of twin boys on July 6th of this year, Jordan Edward Rogers and Justin Charles Rogers. Rogers’ 37-year-old wife, Wanda, has an identical twin, and twins run in Rogers’ family, as well. Rogers was initially reluctant to have more children, as he has three children between the ages of 22 and 44 from his previous four marriages, but decided that it wasn’t fair to his wife of six years to deny her children.
Mr. and Mrs. Rogers recently let go a $10 million dollar home that they felt wasn’t a good place to raise kids, so that they could move into something a bit less castle-like. As he approaches his 70’s, he’s gained a fresh appreciation for the closeness and solace of simple family life, and can look back on a life of unparalleled achievements.
©2004 by Dean Bonzani, All Rights Reserved