Kenny Rogers' 5 Wives: Wanda Miller, Marianne Gordon and More

He may be considered one of Hollywood’s most iconic country music stars, but late singer Kenny Rogers never felt as lucky in love. Although he shared a long and successful marriage with wife Wanda Miller up until his March 2020 death, Kenny was married five times throughout his 81-year life.

The “Islands in the Stream” singer previously opened up about his handful of nuptials in an interview with Reuters in 2012. Kenny revealed while he cherished his four previous relationships with Marianne Gordon, Margo Anderson, Jean Rogers and Janice Gordon, his career played a huge part in the divorces.

“Music, at least for me, is like a mistress … and she’s a difficult mistress for a wife to compete with,” the Grammy Award winner candidly confessed at the time, noting his passion for music caused a strain. “When I became driven and selfish, I was so intent to follow my life that it cost me. I was gone so much from some of my marriages that there was a disconnect.”

The Country Music Hall of Famer — who died “peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice” in March 2020, according to a statement from his family — even acknowledged the mistakes he made with his former lovers.

“This may seem like an absurd statement, but every woman I married, I really loved when I married her … and I don’t blame them for the marriage falling apart,” he admitted. “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. That’s kind of what happened to me.

He jokingly added, “Hey, you can’t say I’m afraid of commitment … I’ve been married five times.”

It appears Kenny may have not have left off on the worst of terms, at least with ex-wife Marianne, considering she had nothing but nice things to say following the news of his death. The Hee Haw actress exclusively opened up to Closer about her ex-husband of almost two decades.

“He was an incredible person,” Marianne gushed at the time of his death. “It’s very upsetting when I start talking about him, for 17 of 21 years, every day, he was so sweet.”

Scroll through the gallery below to learn all about Kenny’s five wives!

Janice Gordon, 1958–1960

Kenny tied the knot for the first time when he was just 19 years old with his first wife, Janice. The couple exchanged vows in 1958 but sadly called it quits in 1960. Before going their separate ways, however, Kenny and Janice welcomed the singer’s first daughter, Carole Lynne.

Looking back on his relationship during a 2012 interview with Fox News, the “Coward of the County” crooner justified getting married at such a young age.

“You know what? I loved her. At 19 I thought, ‘This is OK with me,’” he said at the time. “That was a thing where her parents thought I’d ruined her life and were determined to break me. It didn’t work, and it’s really sad because I think it could have worked.”

He also revealed that Janice had become pregnant the very first time they engaged in sex — which is what pushed their decision to get married. Following their divorce, Kenny told Fox he agreed to have limited contact with his first child.

“That was my promise to them, that I would be her father but he (his ex-wife’s second husband) would be her Dad, and I don’t want to disrupt that,” he shared. “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, 1960–1963

After moving on from his life with Janice, Kenny met and fell in love with Jean. The former twosome walked down the aisle just months after his divorce in 1960 but their marriage sadly ended in 1963.

Although there is not much about the Texas native’s second wife, he did talk about their relationship in 2006. “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,” Kenny told the Independent at the time.

Margo Anderson, 1964–1976

Kenny married his third wife, Margo, in 1964 and became the proud dad of his second child, Kenny Jr., throughout their relationship. While the former pair’s love story ended in divorce in 1976, the doting dad praised Margo for their incredible years together.

“So then I met this girl and that was a really exciting relationship, which lasted 12 years, and out of it we had a son,” he said to the Independent. “In fact, the first nine years were as good as it gets, and it was only the last few that got ugly. I was touring a lot and that is part of what killed the marriage.”

Marianne Gordon, 1977-1993

The “Gambler” artist and his fourth wife, Marianne, made their relationship official with nuptials in 1977. Kenny and the Rosemary’s Baby actress were married for nearly two decades and welcomed Kenny’s third child, son Chris, in 1982. Like his previous relationships, Kenny and Marianne ended things in 1993.

While exclusively chatting with Closer, Marianne detailed the timeline of her marriage with the beloved star.

“I always felt his total focus was on me. If anyone wanted anything from him, he was looking me in the eye and said, ‘Whatever she wants to do,’” she recently explained. “I think that when he turned 50, I didn’t have his full attention anymore but it looked like he still wanted me here. His life was such an open book and after two years he felt this craving, this longing. He said he felt he was having a mid-life crisis. He felt like his career was fading.”

Wanda Miller, 1997-2020

Kenny met his fifth and final wife, Wanda, in the mid-’90s and went on to marry the brunette beauty in 1997. During their decades-long marriage, the longtime lovebirds became the mom and dad of sons Justin and Jordan in 2004.

During his interview with Reuters, Kenny couldn’t help but gush over the beautiful memories he shared with his wife. “Wanda and I have been together now for 20 years, been married 15 years. She’s 28 years younger than me, and I say this from the bottom of my heart — she is my soul mate,” he sweetly insisted. “She knows me better than anyone else has known me. She loves what I do and I’m not as insensitive to her needs as I may have been in the past.”