By Harriet Alexander for Dailymail.com
02.08 18.3.2023, updated 04.33 18.3.2023
- Kenny G, 66, divorced his second wife Lyndie in 2013 after 21 years of marriage: the couple have two grown sons, Max and Noah.
- In September 2021, he filed court documents seeking an end to the $40,000 monthly spousal support payments agreed upon in their divorce.
- On Friday, the musician’s attorneys filed court documents with Lyndie’s attorneys seeking to settle her request after a months-long tax-filing dispute.
Lawyers for Grammy-winning musician Kenny G filed legal documents Friday demanding that his ex-wife agree to stop paying him $40,000 a month, a saxophonist claiming he can no longer afford it.
The 66-year-old musician, who was born Kenneth Gorelick in Seattle, was married to Lyndie Benson for 21 years.
The couple divorced in 2013, and he agreed to pay her a hefty monthly fee.
But in September 2021, she filed documents claiming she could no longer send him money, and on Friday, with the case unresolved, her attorneys served Benson’s attorneys.
“Kenny, who is now 65 years old, has been paying spousal support to Lyndie for over 9 years,” the original documents say.
“Kenny is a Grammy-winning saxophonist with a long successful career and more than 15 albums.
“However, as explained in Kenny’s attached notice, over the past 2-3 years, not only have Kenny’s touring opportunities where he earns the most income decreased, but his percentage of tour income has also decreased.
“Kenny’s income has declined significantly steadily since 2018.”
His legal team – led by high-profile divorce lawyer Laura Wasser – did not specify the musician’s worth.
At the time of her divorce, she was widely estimated to be worth $50 million.
He has paid his ex-wife $3.9 million since 2013, his lawyers noted.
“Lyndie is 57 years old and to Kenny’s knowledge in good health,” her attorneys wrote in their original complaint.
Lyndie has refused to become fully self-sufficient for nearly 10 years.
“Kenny should no longer have to bear the burden of refusing to do so.”
His lawyers point out that he has founded the clothing company Bleusalt, but refused to hand over financial documents related to the company.
In May 2022, Forbes interviewed her and described it as a “burgeoning fashion label” featuring “Malibu-inspired chic essentials”.
She told the magazine: “I’ve always been obsessed with beautiful cashmere and head-to-toe outfits from Loro Piana and Bamford. Luxurious clothes that looked good on the beach for a bonfire and just as good when you were at Nobu for dinner.
“So when I found the fabric and finished it for Bleusalt, the inspiration was already fully realized in my everyday life and my aesthetic life.”
He aims to stop the payments completely or reduce them significantly.
He is also asking the court to stop the requirement that he keep the child support insurance payments that were guaranteed in the divorce.
Kenny G is the best-selling instrumental artist of all time and will be performing in Las Vegas next month.
With 11 platinum albums and eight other multi-platinum albums, Kenny G is one of the most successful artists of all time, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
He appeared on the soundtrack of The SpongeBob Movie and has collaborated with Kanye West and Katy Perry.
In 2021, HBO made a documentary about his life and music, Listening to Kenny G.
The following year, he appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for Busch Light beer—his second Super Bowl commercial after appearing for Audi in 2011.
In 2022, she told Forbes that she didn’t mind being mocked for being everywhere.
“If I’m after a joke, if it’s funny, I love it,” he says, recalling how on Wayne’s World the dentist swapped Novocain for his music, how on South Park his music “gets everyone in their shitty pants. , or how Saturday Night Live mocked him of a duet he did with Frank Sinatra.
“It doesn’t bother me because it’s really fun.”