page_title: Bill Kenny (singer)
section_title: Personal life
hierarchical_section_title: Bill Kenny (singer) / Personal life
caption_attribution_description: English: Scan of Bill Kenny's signature
context_page_description: William Francis Kenny Jr., known professionally as Bill Kenny, was a pioneering African American tenor vocalist with a wide vocal range spanning four octaves. Often regarded as one of the most influential high-tenor singers of all time, Kenny was noted for his "bell-like" vocal clarity and impeccable diction. Although he is most famous for his role as lead tenor with the Ink Spots, Kenny also led a successful solo career after disbanding the Ink Spots in 1954. Throughout the 1950s and 60s Kenny recorded, toured the world and appeared on many popular variety television shows. In 1966 Kenny became the star and host of his own musical variety show The Bill Kenny Show which aired on CBC. In 1989, 11 years after his death, Bill Kenny was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kenny is often noted as being the "godfather" of R&B tenor vocalists.
context_section_description: Kenny was married three times. His first marriage was to Zena Boyd in 1937. His second marriage came in 1947 to Marguerite Wendell, a model from Chicago introduced to Kenny by heavyweight champion boxer Joe Louis. Kenny's engagement to Ms. Wendell ended in 1949 when Kenny learned that she had tricked him into marrying her by claiming that her unborn child was his. Kenny later found out that Ms. Wendell had adopted the child in a plan to acquire support money from him. He filed for divorce in 1949 and sued Ms. Wendell. Kenny's last marriage was to Audrey McBurney, a former model of Vancouver, British Columbia. The two were married in 1949 following McBurney's divorce from a man named Roy Norman Buchanan. Shortly after the Kenny-McBurney wedding, Buchanan charged that Kenny had lured away McBurney with gifts and promises of affection. Buchanan named Kenny as a co-respondent and asked for $50,000 "heart balm". The damage claim was dropped, however; and Kenny settled with Buchanan out of court for $1,300. Kenny first met McBurney after an Ink Spots performance in Vancouver at The Cave Supper Club where she was a member of the audience. Later on, Audrey became Bill's business manager. On July 4, 1969, Kenny was severely burnt when the gas tank of his sports car exploded in an underground parking garage in Vancouver as he lit a cigar while starting the vehicle; third-degree burns to his face and hands contributed to later respiratory problems, stemming from the fumes he inhaled. Kenny and McBurney remained married until Kenny's death in 1978. Although he never had any children of his own, Kenny became acting father of McBurney's daughter, Dixie Lee, from her marriage to Roy Buchanan.
  Bill Kenny was considered quite tall standing at six feet, three inches.
caption: Signature.
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