Kenny G

Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), better known by his stage name Kenny G, is an American adult contemporary and smooth jazz saxophonist. His fourth album, Duotones, brought him breakthrough success in 1986. Kenny G is the biggest-selling instrumental musician with global sales totaling more than 75 million records.

Early life
Kenny G was born in Seattle, Washington, to Jewish parents and grew up in the city's Seward Park neighborhood, which is a center of the city's Jewish community. His mother was originally from Saskatchewan, Canada. He came into contact with a saxophone when he heard someone performing with one on The Ed Sullivan Show. He started playing the saxophone in 1966 when he was 10 years old. He learned how to play under the direction of trumpeter Gerald Pfister and by practicing along with records (mostly of Grover Washington, Jr.). His first saxophone was a Buffet Crampon alto.

Personal life
Kenny G married Lyndie Benson-Gorelick in 1992, and the couple had two sons. In January 2012, Benson-Gorelick filed for legal separation. Kenny G filed for divorce in August 2012.

Kenny G lives in Malibu, California. He has been an avid golfer, with a handicap of +0.6. He had participated in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am tournament seven times as of 2007 and teamed with Phil Mickelson to share the AT&T pro-am title in 2001 with the team of Tiger Woods and Jerry Chang. In the Golf Digest rankings of Top 100 in Music, according to golf handicap indexes of musicians, he was first in 2002 and second in 2006. He has been a member at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California.

Kenny G is an aircraft pilot and has a De Havilland Beaver seaplane that he flies regularly.  He was also an early investor in the Starbucks coffee house chain.

References

Other websites

Kenny G at Myspace
Kenny G at Legacy Recordings 
Kenny G  at VH1.com
Kenny G Interview – Billboard en Español 
[ Kenny G] at Allmusic

Category:1956 births
Category:Living people
Category:Musicians from Seattle
Category:American jazz musicians
Category:Jewish American musicians