He left WhiteHeart in 1990 to get off the road and pursue session work. Kennedy toured for six years with WhiteHeart, during which time the band released one of his favorite collaborations to date, the 1989 album Freedom. In 1984, just a couple years out of college, Kennedy joined the contemporary Christian group WhiteHeart when his high school friend, now renowned producer Dann Huff, left the group and recommended him to fill the spot. He spent his high school years running track, playing basketball, winning the regional high jump championship with a jump of 6’6” and starring on BA’s first state championship football team.Ī dedicated musician even then, he completed his first master recording session after his junior year of high school, lending a solo to Johnny Rodriguez’ song “Run Like A Thief” and performing a twin guitar part with his father on “Remember Me.” While still attending Belmont, he landed a gig playing guitar on several of Reba McEntire’s projects, including her first top 5 single, “Today All Over Again” and her first No.1, “Can’t Even Get the Blues.” Catapulted into the realm of top professionals when he was still a student, Kennedy has never slowed in his ability to create and collaborate on innovative, new music. An alumnus of Brentwood Academy and Belmont University, Kennedy was an all-around athlete in high school, selected the most athletic student his senior year. He played on albums for the likes of Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr, produced 13-time GRAMMY Award-winner Roger Miller and won four GRAMMYs himself. As Kennedy was growing up, his father spent 16 years running Smash Records, the country subsidiary of Mercury Records. The young family stayed in Nashville and became a pillar in the development of the industry over the next few decades.
The son of music industry A-Team heavy hitter Jerry Kennedy and singer Linda Brannon, he grew up steeped in the sounds of Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Tammy Wynette, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Statler Brothers, not only because his parents were spinning their records but because his dad was either producing them or playing guitar on their albums.Ī native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Kennedy moved to Nashville in 1961, when he was still a baby and his hopeful parents were trying their hands in the industry, spurned on by Mercury exec and family friend Shelby Singleton. Kennedy is one of those rare talents for whom raw skill and opportunity flawlessly aligned. 2 on the country charts, and his Alison Krauss cut, “Maybe.” Some of his most notable cuts include his Bonnie Raitt singles, “I Can’t Help You Now” and “I Will Not Be Broken,” his Garth Brooks single, “You Move Me,” which reached No. In addition to his work with Clapton, Kennedy has had his songs cut by musical greats, including Bonnie Raitt, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Bruce Hornsby, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Alison Krauss, Nickel Creek, Peter Frampton, George Strait, Martina McBride, Joan Osborne, Wynonna, Jerry Reed and, most recently, bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs. 1 hit, “Change the World,” which he co-wrote with Wayne Kirkpatrick and Tommy Sims. Kennedy’s name became nationally recognized when he won Song of the Year at the 1997 GRAMMYs for Eric Clapton’s No. Gordon Kennedy is a multi GRAMMY Award-winning songwriter and producer, world-class guitarist and visionary at the forefront of Nashville’s music community.