The Day Kenny Rogers’ Wife, Wanda Miller, ‘Grounded’ Him
Kenny Rogers wrote about his relationship with his wife of 23 years, Wanda Miller. In one section of his book, he gave her space to share a funny story about the time she made him stay home. Here’s what Miller said about “grounding” Rogers.
Wanda Miller said Kenny Rogers thought he was ‘indestructible’
In Rogers’ book, Luck or Something Like It, Miller talks about the time they were dating. She said Rogers sometimes acted like he was “indestructible.” For example, whenever Rogers toured during the Christmas season, he would play a game of touch football with the singers he toured with.
“Kenny has always felt young at heart, but I swear sometimes I think he thinks he is indestructible,” wrote Miller. “Honestly, I thought he was, too. We had been dating about two years, I think, when I realized we were both wrong. At that moment, he was hurt bad, but I didn’t know it and he wouldn’t admit it.”
Kenny Rogers got into a bad crash on the football field
During a football game, a player crashed into Rogers on the field. Miller said she could hear Rogers’ shoulder make a crunching noise, and she knew something was wrong. However, Miller said Rogers acted as if nothing happened. He even did a show right after the injury.
This particular year, the opposition was Shelby Lynne and her group of musicians. Kenny was quarterback for his team, and as he went back to throw a pass, Shelby’s 300-pound trumpet player rushed in, leaped, and landed right on poor Kenny. Kenny’s shoulder went limp and made a crunch like I have never heard a shoulder crunch before.
Everybody was so sure he was hurt, but with his high threshold for pain and tremendous ego, he finished the game, went on to do the show, and finish the tour. He would learn later that year that he had torn the rotator cuff in his shoulder. In January, we scheduled the surgery and we were told he would have to take a few months off while it healed.
Wanda Miller in ‘Luck or Something Like It’
The moment Wanda Miller decided to ‘ground’ Kenny Rogers
Rogers decided to have rotator cuff surgery on both shoulders. Miller described her husband as “all bound up and miserable” after the procedure. Rogers was supposed to stay home and rest, but he decided to go out and play golf just two weeks after the surgery.
Within a week or two after the operation, I caught him, loaded with Demerol and feeling bulletproof, out on the golf course with Rob and Kelly, attempting to hit golf balls. I don’t know what came over me, but I felt I needed to say something to him since no one else would. So, what did I do? I grounded him!
He was in so much pain he was taking enough Percocet, a painkiller, to drop a full-size horse. Since he had been grounded, the only thing he could do was watch TV. As I walked by one day, he was watching a commercial that ended with ‘I love alpacas,’ Kenny looked at me, eyes at half mast, and said, ‘I think I do, too.’ He ordered three.
Wanda Miller in ‘Luck or Something Like It’
Read more: Kenny Rogers Had a Tough Time Winning Over His Wife’s Parents
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