When I think of saxophone legendKenny G, the first thing that comes to my mind is waking up in the middle of the night on my best friend's couch to those CD collection commercials. While many in my millennial generation didn't think much of him beyond that, the truth is the man has had a rather impressive career. In an interview on Benny Blanco's podcast Friends Keep Secrets, Kenny G opened up a lot about his work, performing methods, and his smartest moves. Among them? Being an early investor in Starbucks.
When Blanco asked if it was true that he was actually one of the first, Kenny G confirmed it and noted he was actually one of the first 10.
"There was one store in the Pike Place Market in Seattle—one Starbucks store—and they just sold coffee beans," he explained. "My uncle says, 'Hey, they're trying to raise money for Starbucks Coffee.' I don't know anything about coffee. He goes, 'Yeah, well, I'm gonna put some money in, and why don't you meet the guy that's raising the money?' His name was Howard Schultz, the guy that started it."
"So I met Howard, and Howard kind of gave me the whole rundown of what he was planning to do," he continued. "He's a very charismatic guy, and we became good friends. And then I said, 'Who else is investing?' And I looked at the names and go, 'Oh my gosh, okay.' I said, 'Whatever they're doing, I'm gonna do.' That's how it started."
Long before Starbucks became a household name, Kenny G and his uncle, Harold Gorelick, helped Schultz raise $3.8 million in 1987 to buy the brand and initiate nationwide growth, according to Complex. After going public in 1992, the company's shares soared, eventually generating gains exceeding 26,500 percent relative to its original IPO price. While Kenny G has never publicly stated how much his investment earned him, we can assume it was a lot.
Related: Starbucks Launches First-of-Its-Kind Drink Lineup for Summer
Kenny G's Under-the-Radar Success
In all honesty, mocking Kenny G was about as popular as he has been. Despite a long career that earned him nearly countless accolades, his style of smooth jazz was often heavily criticized—so much so that there was an entire HBO documentary centered around it in 2021, Listening to Kenny G.
"I don't mind that they say what they say," he told NPR'sDavid Folkenflik. "They must think that my music somehow is going to damage the reputation of traditional jazz, which — it shouldn't have any effect on anything," he said. "They have every right to be protective if that's what they want to do. I've got other things to do, which is create and practice."
With his global sales totaling more than 75 million records and 1.5 billion streams, alongside an impressive 24 award nominations throughout his 50-year career, it's pretty easy to see why he loses no sleep over the hate.
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