Kenny G was born in Seattle, Washington, to Jewish parents (his mother was originally from Saskatchewan, Canada) and grew up in the city's Seward Park neighborhood, which is a center of the city's Jewish community. He came into contact with the saxophone when he heard a performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. He started playing the saxophone in 1966 when he was 10 years old; his first saxophone being a Buffet Crampon alto.
Kenny G attended Whitworth Elementary School, Sharples Junior High School, Franklin High School, and the University of Washington, all in his home town of Seattle. When he entered high school, he failed on his first try to get into the jazz band, but tried again the following year and earned first chair. His Franklin High School classmate Robert Damper (piano, keyboards) plays in his band. In addition to his studies while in high school, he took private lessons on the saxophone and clarinet from Johnny Jessen, once a week for a year.
He was also on his high school golf team. He has been a fan of the sport since his older brother, Brian Gorelick, introduced him to it when he was ten.
Kenny G's career started with a job as a sideman for Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1973 while 17 and still in high school. He continued to play professionally while studying for a major in accounting at the University of Washington in Seattle and graduated magna cum laude. He played with the funk band Cold, Bold and Together before becoming a credited member of The Jeff Lorber Fusion. He began his solo career after his period with Lorber.
Kenny G signed with Arista Records as a solo artist in 1982, after label president Clive Davis heard his rendition of ABBA's "Dancing Queen". He released his first self-titled album with the help of The Jeff Lorber Fusion. The album received warm reviews from critics. He received success quite early on, with both G Force and Gravity, his second and third studio albums respectively, achieving platinum status in the United States. At that time, he collaborated with Kashif on many tracks, such as the single "Love on the Rise" released in 1985 which went on to chart. His fourth studio album, Duotonessold over 5 million copies in the U.S. alone. It featured the songs Songbird, with reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single Don't Make Me Wait for Love, which featured vocals from Lenny Williams, charted at #15 on the Hot 100, and #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts in 1987. In the mid-late 1980s, Kenny G worked with Jazz and R&B artists such as George Benson, Patti LaBelle, and Aretha Franklin. The 1987 hit-single Love Power, a Dionne Warwick duet with Jeffrey Osborne, featuring G as a guest saxophonist, peaked #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #5 at R&B/Hip-Hop songs.
His first live album, titled: Kenny G Live included popular songs, among which Going Home, which achieved great success in the People's Republic of China. G has notably collaborated with a wide variety of artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Aaron Neville, Toni Braxton, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Natalie Cole, Steve Miller, Weezer, Dudley Moore, Lee Ritenour, The Rippingtons, Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, Frank Sinatra, Bebel Gilberto, and Smokey Robinson. Influenced by the likes of saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., his own albums are usually classified as smooth jazz.
Kenny G has worked on multiple soundtracks such as Dying Young, and The Bodyguard. The song "Theme for Dying young", written for the eponymous movie, was nominated for a Best Pop Instrumental Performance. G co-wrote the soundtrack of The Bodyguard starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, and performed his own song "Waiting for You" as well as his single "Even If My Heart Would Break". His music was also included in The Shadow, or Miracle on 34th Street.
His sixth studio album, Breathless, was released in 1992, and went on to become the number one best selling instrumental album ever, with over 15 million copies sold worldwide, selling 12 million copies in the United States alone. The album included many hits such as Forever in Love, the recipient of the Grammy Award for the Best Instrumental Composition and which charted in the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End. Sentimental which charted at #27 on the Adult Contemporary, and By the Time This Night Is Over, a collaboration with Peabo Bryson, with peaked #25 on the Hot 100 . His first holiday album, Miracles, sold over 13 million copies, making it the most successful Christmas album to date. He also performed the "National Anthem of the United States" at the 1994 FIFA World Cup closing ceremony at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, on July 17, 1994.
In 1997, Kenny G earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing the longest note ever recorded on a saxophone. Using circular breathing, Kenny G held an E-flat for 45 minutes and 47 seconds at J&R Music World in New York City. The same year, Kenny G's song "Havana", from the album The Moment, was remixed by Todd Terry and Tony Moran and released to dance clubs in the U.S. The mixes went to No.1 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs chart in April 1997.
Kenny G's second holiday album, Faith, is the best selling holiday album of 1999 in the United States selling 2 million units according to Nielsen/SoundScan. The singles taken from the album, the traditional Auld Lang Syne, reached #7 on the Hot 100.
In February 2000, Kenny G was invited to the White House and performed for state governors and members of the Clinton Cabinet.
He released his eight studio album, Paradise in 2002. The album featured R&B singer Brian McKnight, and included singles "One More Time", a duet with Chanté Moore.
On At Last...The Duets Album,he collaborated with friends and colleagues David Sanborn, David Benoit, Daryl Hall, lead singer of Hall & Oates, Burt Bacharach, and Barbra Streisand. It includes covers such as Careless Whisper, and Elton John's Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, a collaboration with Richard Marx. The album is certified Gold in the US.
2006 saw the release of Kenny G's eleventh studio album I'm in the Mood for Love...The Most Romantic Melodies of All Time featuring renditions of The Beatles's songs, the love theme from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the Secret Garden's hit song You Raise Me Up, and James Blunt's You're Beautiful, as well as the Chinese ballad The Moon Represents My Heart.
Kenny G was named the 25th highest-selling artist in America by the RIAA, with 48 million albums sold in the USA as of July 31, 2006.
In October 2009, Kenny G appeared with the band Weezer in an AOL promotion of their album Raditude by soloing during "I'm Your Daddy". Kenny G said he knew nothing of Weezer before the performance. Though some music critics thereby rejoined in the common criticism of his work, the unlikely combination was fairly well received by AOL's magazines Spinner.com and Popeater.com.
His 2010 album Heart And Soul is strongly influenced by R&B, featuring Robin Thicke and his long-time collaborator Babyface. It garnered positive reviews from critics.
In February 2011 Kenny G was featured in the Super Bowl XLV ad for Audi called "Release the Hounds." Kenny G later starred in a short as Head of Riot Suppression for a luxury Prison.
G made an appearance in the music video for pop star Katy Perry's single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" as Uncle Kenny. On October 8, 2011 episode of Saturday Night Live, G performed alongside alternative rock band Foster the People on the song "Houdini."
Kenny G hosts a radio show alongside Sandy Kovach on WLOQ in Orlando, Florida.
G's 14th studio album "Brazilian Nights" was announced on October 28, 2014. According to G, "Brazilian Nights" was inspired by Cannonball Adderley's bossa nova recordings, Paul Desmond, and Stan Getz. The album was released in January 2015. It help Kenny G back to the Billboard 200, at number 86. Kenny G kicked off "The Brazillian Tour", supporting for the album, throughout North America and many country in the Asia, later in the year.
In November 2015, Kenny G was featured in a news segment on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver about China building new land, and instigating War with the US. John Oliver reported "For years the tune, in all its seductive woodwind glory, has been a staple of Chinese society. Every day, “Going Home” is piped into shopping malls, schools, train stations and fitness centers as a signal to the public that it is time, indeed, to go home." The segment ends with a performance by Kenny G of "Going Home".
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