 Kenny Rogers has enjoyed tremendous success as an icon in the entertainment industry. His success began in the late '60s with The First Edition, and his brilliant solo career still flourishes before millions around the world. The multitalented superstar has achieved the amazing distinction of selling over 80 million units worldwide. He has received four Grammy Awards, eleven People's Choice Awards, five Country Music Association Awards, eighteen American Music Awards, and eight Academy of Country Music Awards; nineteen platinum albums (eight are multi-platinum), one platinum single and enough gold albums and singles to stock Fort Knox. Kenny has received Top Country Artist nods from the reader polls of magazines like People and Rolling Stone, and earned the title of Favorite Singer of All Time, in a PM Magazine/USA Today poll. Kenny was voted Favorite Male Vocalist by readers of People magazine. He was also named Top Adult Contemporary Artist of the '80s by Radio and Records and the Decade's Hottest Crossover Star by Billboard magazine. Although Kenny's musical honors are well deserved and appreciated, his most personal award was not presented to him by the entertainment industry. In 1990, Kenny was one of eleven people (the only entertainer) to receive the Horatio Alger Award. The Association presents the Awards annually to men and women who have overcome personal hardship and achieved notable success in their fields through hard work and impeccable integrity. For both Kenny and his admirers, his success is all the more remarkable for his having been raised in a Houston public housing project with seven brothers and sisters. In 1995, he was similarly honored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as one of five Heroes of Public Housing. Kenny and the four other honorees were acknowledged by Secretary Henry Cisneros as successful individuals who grew up in public housing. The awards, of course, are just the icing on the cake. It is the huge body of works and accomplishments which they represent that distinguish Kenny Rogers from his contemporaries. Naturally, music remains the bedrock of Kenny's career and he continues to take his music on the road. His live show has always been a mainstay of his success, and Kenny continues to pack venues not only in the United States, but in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada as well. Kenny is the essence of live performance.
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