# Why is Kenny G so hated? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883 "2003-11-12T19:40:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colinmarshall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Colinmarshall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colinmarshall)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/1 "2003-11-12T19:40:42Z")
While working as an intern for [KWJZ](http://www.kwjz.com) last year, I noticed that a great deal of the general public feels the need to express just how much they dislike the recording artist known as Kenny G. Why is this? I’m not much of a G-fan (1982’s _G-Force_ was a solid album, but I’ve never gotten into his best selling material), but I can’t see any reason he deserves the sheer amount of venom given him. I’ve met the man, and he seems nice enough. He really appears to be trying his best. From talking to established musicians I’ve discerned that there’s some level of jealousy regarding Mr. G’s phenomenal sales, but why would that make regular people dislike him so intensely? (Side note: Why is Yanni so hated, for that matter?) ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/2 "2003-11-12T19:50:16Z")
It’s elevator music. Music with all trace of originality and soul removed. Music to have a root canal by. Ditto Yanni and John Tesh. But then again, some people even like Celine Dion. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/3 "2003-11-12T19:57:26Z")
Dude. Come on. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/4 "2003-11-12T20:12:47Z")
Becuase it’s depressing for those of us who like jazz to see that the only “jazz” many people like/own are the toodling-doodlings of Mr. G (G presumably standing for Goose-Torture-Emulator). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/5 "2003-11-12T20:18:20Z")
**DeVena** has it right. The music is bland to the extreme. Forgettable and boring. It makes Muzak look exciting. The entire “smooth jazz” genre is an insult to those who developed jazz as an art form. Kenny G. should personally apologize to Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong every time he plays a note. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/6 "2003-11-12T20:37:33Z")
I don’t hate him. It’s impossible to work up much hate for such bland mediocrity. Pat Metheny, on the other hand, [despises Kenny G:](http://www.jazzoasis.com/methenyonkennyg.htm) > [@](#): > > Not long ago, Kenny G put out a recording where he overdubbed himself on top of a 30+ year old Louis Armstrong record, the track “What a Wonderful World”. With this single move, Kenny G became one of the few people on earth I can say that I really can’t use at all - as a man, for his incredible arrogance to even consider such a thing, and as a musician, for presuming to share the stage with the single most important figure in our music… > > \ > > …when Kenny G decided that it was appropriate for him to defile the music of the man who is probably the greatest jazz musician that has ever lived by spewing his lame-ass, jive, pseudo bluesy, out-of-tune, noodling, wimped out, fucked up playing all over one of the great Louis’s tracks (even one of his lesser ones), he did something that I would not have imagined possible. He, in one move, through his unbelievably pretentious and calloused musical decision to embark on this most cynical of musical paths, shit all over the graves of all the musicians past and present who have risked their lives by going out there on the road for years and years developing their own music inspired by the standards of grace that Louis Armstrong brought to every single note he played over an amazing lifetime as a musician. (Yes I’ve quoted these passages before, but damn, they’re hilarious). ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/7 "2003-11-12T20:48:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hodge \* > **Pat Metheny, on the other hand, despises Kenny G.** That’s funny. Metheny rates juust a step below Kenny G for me on the Bland-O-Meter. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/8 "2003-11-12T20:55:17Z")
IMHO, if an artist is seen to be widely popular with the ‘great unwashed’ many people will turn their noses up at that artist so as not to be thought of as one of the herd. Personally I find Kenny G., Yanni. Tesh, etc. music pleasant enough but unremarkable. I’d certainly prefer it to the drek they were playing over the loudspeakers in the grocery store last night. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/9 "2003-11-12T21:03:35Z")
My grocery store plays the oddest stuff. One day it’s 80s music, the next it’s classic soul (which lets me practice doing that one-step-and-clap thing the backup singers do), the next it’s country. And Kenny G sucks. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/10 "2003-11-12T21:11:40Z")
How could this thread have gotten this far without any mention of…(say it with me) **MICHAEL BOLTON!!!** Having to choose between listening to Michael Bolton and Kenny G. is like choosing between getting the electric chair and hanging. ---
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/11 "2003-11-12T21:17:15Z")
Because his music is so boring it makes you want to go to sleep, but so annoying you can’t. It kind of feels like taking a handful of dramamine and then being forced to stay awake via a speaker right next to your pillow that makes announcements about a shoelace sale and repeats them in 10 different languages every 3 minutes. Actually, his music is not quite _that_ pleasant . . . ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/12 "2003-11-12T21:20:12Z")
I think these people are disliked because they are very popular and successful, and folks think that those levels of success are unwarranted unless the artist is a genius. Of course, success is much more a function of wide appeal than genius or even skill. ---
**Author:** ![Ivar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ivar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivar)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/13 "2003-11-12T21:34:24Z")
Plus, he’s got a sweet mullet. Wait, that could be a reason to like him instead of hate him… feeling conflicted… ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/14 "2003-11-12T21:34:42Z")
I’m reminded of an item Norm MacDonald read on the Weekend Update segment of _Saturday Night Live_ years ago: Item: "The new Kenny G Christmas album appears in stores today. Happy birthday, Jesus. Hope you like **CRAP!!** ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/15 "2003-11-12T21:36:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*I think these people are disliked because they are very popular and successful, and folks think that those levels of success are unwarranted unless the artist is a genius. Of course, success is much more a function of wide appeal than genius or even skill. \*\* They’re ‘popular and successful’ because they mirror the large majority of Americans’ tastes for the bland and obvious. A large portion of America is tone deaf and has no idea what creativity really consists of. They equate ‘original’ with Classic Coke. There’s no denying that Michael Bolton and Kenny G have some skill, but they choose to expend their efforts on doing bad covers and unsuccessfully trying to imitate Ray Charles and Branford Marsalis. I really don’t care what people listen to and enjoy. What I object to is characterizing these weiners as jazz artists and blues singers, when they’re nothing more than hacks. ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/16 "2003-11-12T21:43:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Moody Bastard \* > \*\*That’s funny. Metheny rates juust a step below Kenny G for me on the Bland-O-Meter. \*\* You are entitled to your opinion but I wonder how much Metheny you have actually heard. He has had his share of “jazz for the masses” in recent years, but that doesn’t really encompass what Metheny is about. Some of his oler stuff might surprise you. “Bland” isn’t the first word that comes to mind. To each his own though. And I don’t really enjoy Kenny G. either. Yeah, he has chops, but I found most of his stuff pretty boring. It is a shame that some people when asked if they like jazz, say “Oh yes! I love Kenny G.”, not having a clue who Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dizzie Gillespie, Art Tatum, or Oscar Peterson are. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/17 "2003-11-12T21:50:24Z")
Bland, and for some reason full of sharps. ---
**Author:** ![Colinmarshall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Colinmarshall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colinmarshall)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/18 "2003-11-12T22:58:09Z")
Maybe the question I’m looking for is “Why is his _music_ considered bland/boring/screechy/dreck?” ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/19 "2003-11-12T23:23:30Z")
I do not dislike him, however, I’m deaf… Sometimes just for kicks I mention him or John Tesh to my hearing friends just to see their eyes roll. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883/20 "2003-11-12T23:58:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > \*\*And Kenny G sucks. \*\* I didn’t think it was physically possible, but Kenny G both sucks and blows. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-kenny-g-so-hated/212883.md?page=2)