Two years later, smooth jazz’s king of the soprano sax returned to a purely instrumental approach on the brassy, big-band-inspired albums Holiday Collection and I’m in the Mood for Love 2006 was also the year the artist was dubbed the best golfer in music by Golf Digest, beating out Vince Gill for the number one spot. Perhaps in a bid to shake up his discography a bit, in 2004 Kenny G released At Last…The Duets Album, which featured “duets” with LeAnn Rimes and Chaka Khan. This was followed by a music video collection, another holiday album, entitled Wishes, and, in 2003, a second greatest-hits collection, Ultimate Kenny G.
In 2002 Kenny G dipped into tropical territory with Paradise, which featured guest appearances by Brian McKnight and Chanté Moore. Faith: A Holiday Album was released in 1998, followed by a limited-edition re-release of the 1997 Greatest Hits disc. The holiday album Miracles, released in 1994, and 1996’s Moment continued the momentum of his massive commercial success. his total album sales top 30 million copies. Kenny G’s own records have sold remarkably well, particularly Breathless, which has easily topped eight million copies in the U.S. Soon he was in demand for guest appearances on recordings of such famous singers as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Natalie Cole. His fourth album, Duotones (which included the very popular “Songbird”), made him into a star. Soon he was signed to Arista, recording his debut as a leader in 1982. After graduating from the University of Washington, Kenny G worked with Jeff Lorber Fusion, making two albums with the group. Kenny Gorelick started playing professionally with Barry White‘s Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1976. A phenomenally successful instrumentalist whose recordings routinely made the pop, R&B, and jazz charts during the 1980s and ’90s, Kenny G‘s sound became a staple on adult contemporary and smooth jazz radio stations. To add to his accolades, Kenny G has both the best-selling instrumental album of all time with Breathless and the best-selling Christmas album of all time with Miracles. His sweet soprano sound was inescapable in the 1990s, especially his 1993 jazz-R&B crossover, Breathless, which moved more than 12 million copies to become the best-selling instrumental album ever.With global sales totaling more than 75 million, GRAMMY and American Music Award winner Kenny G is the biggest-selling instrumental musician of all time. The platinum success of his ‘80s-era solo albums G Force and Gravity-and his caressing melodic interpretations, brightening the tracks of R&B giants like Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and Patti LaBelle-only hinted at what was to come.
After beginning his professional life as a teenage sideman in Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra, Kenny joined up with The Jeff Lorber Fusion, where the saxist’s light-hearted approach to jazz-pop (and corkscrew coiff) fully emerged. Born Kenneth Bruce Gorelick in Seattle in 1956, the saxophonist (and early Starbucks investor) has sold more than 75 million albums since the release of his self-titled 1982 debut. Kenny G's career has proceeded with a smoothness that's on par with his adult-contemporary jazz-pop sound.