Kenny Loggins facts: Footloose singer's age, wife, family, and career revealed

25 July 2024, 15:20

"Kick off the Sunday shoes".

That's precisely what soft rock singer Kenny Loggins implored the world to do with his hit single 'Footloose', the title song to the film of the same name which is an icon of the eighties.

Throughout that decade, Loggins was the go-to guy when it came to film soundtracks and teaming up with a faultless radio-ready anthem.

Not only did he ensure Footloose had a finger-snapping soundtrack, but he lent his voice to Top Gun too with 'Danger Zone' and 'Playing With The Boys', ensuring the film became a generational touchstone.

Thanks to Top Gun - and very likely Loggins' high-octane hit 'Danger Zone' - there was a swathe of applicants to the US Navy programme once the film came out.

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Dubbed the 'King of the Movie Soundtrack' due to his string of sure-fire film soundtrack hits - which dates back to 1976's Barbra Streisand featuring A Star Is Born - Kenny Loggins is also known for his work on the Grammy Award-winning song 'What A Fool Believes' which he wrote with The Doobie Brothers' Michael MacDonald, both of whom recorded a version.

Throughout his career, he has won an Emmy Award, two Grammy Awards, been nominated for an Academy Award, a Tony Award and a Golden Globe, and even played at Live Aid.

How old is Kenny Loggins and where was he born?

Kenneth Clark Loggins was born on 7th January 1976 in Everett, Washington in the United States of America. In 2024 he turned 76 years old.

His father Robert George Loggins was a salesman of English and Irish heritage, whilst his mother Lina was a homemaker of Italian descent.

The youngest of three brothers, Kenny lived in Detroit and Seattle with his family before they relocated to Alhambra, California where he attended San Gabriel Mission High School.

When did Kenny Loggins get started in music and when was his big break?

Kenny Loggins wasted no time pursuing music after graduating high school, releasing three singles with the band The Second Helping.

He played in a handful of bands, but his first meaningful foray into big-time songwriting came when Loggins was introduced to former Buffalo Springfield and Poco musician Jim Messina who was then working as a producer for Columbia Records.

The pair started recording songs together which Loggins had written, later scoring a record deal themselves with Columbia.

Despite the solo star and producer combination, they started working together as Loggins & Messina, eventually becoming the most successful duo of the early seventies selling 16 million records. Only Hall & Oates were a more successful musical duo than them later that decade.

After contributing the song 'I Believe In Love' for the 1976 musical drama A Star Is Born, the success of the song encouraged Loggins to eventually go solo, releasing his own version of 'I Believe In Love' which featured on his 1977 debut album, Celebrate Me Home.

He scored his first top-ten solo hit with 'Whenever I Call You Friend', a duet with Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks in 1978.

What are Kenny Loggins’ biggest songs?

Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone (Official Video - Top Gun)

- 'What A Fool Believes'

- 'Footloose'

- 'Danger Zone'

- 'Playing With The Boys'

- 'Whenever I Call You Friend' with Stevie Nicks

- 'This Is It'

- 'I'm Alright'

- Nobody's Fool'

- 'Meet Me Half Way'

- 'Heart To Heart'

Is Kenny Loggins married and does he have children?

Kenny Loggins was married to Eva Ein from 1978 to 1990. They share three children - Crosby born in 1980, Cody born in 1983, and Isabella born in 1988.

Crosby Loggins is a singer-songwriter and producer in his own right, who went on to win MTV reality series Rock The Cradle which pits celebrity offspring against each other in a singing competition.

In 1982 after Kenny was referred to see therapist Julia Cooper over ongoing health issues, who he established an immediate connection with.

Loggins was unhappy in his marriage - despite his wife Eva being pregnant with their second child - yet his and Cooper's relationship remained friendly for years.

That was until the end of the decade when both he and Julia split from their partners and started a relationship together, marrying in 1992.

They went on to have two children together - Lukas, born in 1993 and Hana, born in 1997 - though eventually divorced in 2004 after a series of poor financial decisions and projects left them facing bankruptcy.

In 2009 Loggins revealed: "I got pretty blindsided by Julia's decision to leave. She's a very impulsive woman and she found herself going through a midlife crisis and she didn't know what to make of it and it changed her life."

How much is Kenny Loggins worth?

Kenny Loggins - Footloose (Live Aid 1985)

Kenny Loggins' net worth is an estimated $16 million.

Is there anything else we should know about Kenny Loggins?

Kenny Loggins - What a Fool Believes (from Outside: From The Redwoods)

Kenny Loggins has been a good sport about his public image, often guesting on television series such as the animated spy spoof Archer and comedy series Family Guy taking the mickey out of himself.

The singer is a passionate environmentalist and noted philanthropist, advocating for environmental issues around the world and donating to sustainable energy initiatives, conservation projects, and the fight against global hunger.

In 1995, Loggins was awarded the prestigious honour of having his star added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, all but cementing his status as a music icon.

Despite media speculation that they were linked romantically, Stevie Nicks has maintained that she and Kenny Loggins were only ever really good pals having duetted together on the aptly named 'Whenever I Call You Friend'.