Who is the Sammy Kershaw wife that fans keep searching for? The answer takes more than one name. The singer behind “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” has married four times, and he isn’t married today.
Sammy Kershaw Wife in Brief
Here’s the short version of the Sammy Kershaw wife story: the Kaplan, Louisiana, singer has been married four times and isn’t married today. His wives were June Roy, a second woman few records name, Kim, and singer Lorrie Morgan, whom he wed on September 29, 2001. Morgan filed for divorce in October 2007, and he now shares a daughter with partner Mendy Gregory.
Before Any Sammy Kershaw Wife: Growing Up in Kaplan
Sammy Kershaw was born Samuel Paul Cashat on February 24, 1958. He grew up in Kaplan, a small Acadiana town in South Louisiana. He’s also the third cousin of singers Rusty and Doug Kershaw.
Life changed fast when he was 11. His father died that year, and his grandfather gave him a first guitar. Sammy then worked day jobs and played roadhouses at night to support his family.
Profiles from the 1990s fill in the rest. Over the years, he swung a hammer, worked in a rice mill, welded and remodeled Wal-Mart stores.
By 12, he was playing honky-tonks and beer joints. At 14, he met George Jones, his lifelong idol. Soon he was opening shows for Jones, Ray Price and Merle Haggard.
Those years weren’t easy. Kershaw has spoken openly about battling alcohol and drugs, and Villages-News covered that struggle in a 2016 profile.
Mercury Records released his debut, Don’t Go Near the Water, in 1991, and it went Platinum. Then “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” hit No. 1 in April 1993. It’s still his only chart-topper, and our [INTERNAL LINK: She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful → Sammy Kershaw song and biography article] tells that story in full.
Sammy Kershaw Wife Number One and Two: The Early Marriages
Public records say little about the first two marriages. Kershaw himself calls Kim his third wife, so two marriages came before hers. June Roy is the name most often given for the first.
The second wife barely appears in print. Both marriages came before his 1985 marriage to Kim, years ahead of his 1991 debut. Neither woman seems to have told her story publicly.
That silence is the real finding. These are the least documented years of his personal life, and we won’t guess at what happened.
Sammy Kershaw Wife Number Three: Kim
Kershaw married Kim, listed as Kim Moore in our earlier coverage, in 1985. By length, the longest Sammy Kershaw wife was Kim, not Morgan. They raised children together, and he’s given her credit since. “My third wife really raised my children and did a hell of a job,” he told People in 2019.
The marriage ended in a court fight. Some listings give 1999 as the end date. The Nashville Scene reported that the divorce went to trial and became final on April 12, 2001. We use the court date.
Kim spoke publicly in the Scene’s June 2001 profile. She said she and Kershaw had agreed to stay quiet for their children’s sake. She felt he broke that deal.
Sammy Kershaw Wife Lorrie Morgan: How They Described Falling for Each Other
Kershaw and [INTERNAL LINK: Lorrie Morgan → Lorrie Morgan biography] first met at a George Jones show in Lafayette, Louisiana, in 1981. Morgan was Jones’s opening act then, the Scene reported. Both were in their early 20s.
Years later, they recorded together. Their duet “Maybe Not Tonight” came out on February 27, 1999, and it peaked at No. 17. It was the last Top 20 hit for both singers.
Neither was single. The Scene reported in June 2001 that the two became involved about two years earlier. Both were still married to other people. Kershaw’s divorce from Kim then went to trial, and gag orders kept both singers quiet until it ended.
Morgan described a turning point in May 2000. She said she learned Kershaw was still involved with his wife, so she called Kim. The two women then confronted him together. Morgan said she offered to walk away if Kim wanted to save the marriage.
After Kershaw chose her, Morgan said, she made him talk with her mother, her best friend, her daughter and her priest. The priest told her the question wasn’t whether they could forget. It was whether they could forgive and live with what happened.
The couple announced their plans on April 12, 2001, the day Kershaw’s divorce became final. They set the wedding for September 29. Morgan said a Catholic ceremony was Kershaw’s wish, and it meant annulling her earlier marriage. It would be her fifth wedding and his fourth.
They made music too. Their duet album, I Finally Found Someone, arrived on April 17, 2001, and a 30-city tour began that February. “He Drinks Tequila” peaked at No. 39. Morgan said their voices blended so closely that she couldn’t tell where hers ended.
What This Relationship Means to Them, In Their Own Words
Neither singer tells this story in glossy terms. Kershaw’s plainest words are about friendship. Of their first duet, he told Country Weekly, “We’re friends and we have been friends for a long time.”
He was less gentle about the press. After the divorce trial, he told the Nashville Scene, “Some of them are ugly and try to hurt you on purpose.”
Morgan said the coverage hurt most because of the children. She said the couple were listening to their hearts and tuning out the cynics. She also welcomed the George Jones and Tammy Wynette comparisons as a compliment, while hoping parts of that story wouldn’t repeat.
Kershaw hasn’t given a long public statement about the 2007 split that we could verify. So his on-record words about this marriage are few, and that reticence is part of the story.
What Reporters Found That Wasn’t in the Interview
The accounts don’t always match. Kim and Morgan remember May 2000 differently. Morgan said it wasn’t the ambush the media described, and that the women considered travelling to a Louisiana show on her bus before deciding to wait. Kim told the Scene she felt ambushed, and she described a plan for her to watch from the bus.
Kim also said she didn’t blame Morgan. She said she wished Kershaw had been honest with both women. Kershaw’s own account of that week doesn’t appear in the profile.
Dates differ too. Some sites say the couple married on April 12, 2001. Reporting from the time shows that was the day his divorce became final, with the wedding set for September 29.
Counts vary elsewhere. Most credible sources count four marriages for Kershaw and five for Morgan, though a few low-quality blogs claim otherwise. People counted Natelia Mae as his sixth child, while other outlets called her his fifth.
The Sammy Kershaw Wife Years With Lorrie Morgan: 2001 to 2007
The couple wed on September 29, 2001. Those first years were busy, with a joint album, a tour and plenty of press. But the marriage was rocky.
By late 2003, trouble surfaced. Taste of Country reported an argument that turned physical, and each singer got a restraining order against the other. Both filed for divorce around then.
Then they reconciled. By July 2004, they were back together. On Larry King Live on July 5, 2004, Morgan said outside interference had strained them, but they’d pulled through.
That lasted three more years. The couple separated in early August 2007, and Morgan filed for divorce in late October, citing irreconcilable differences. She asked the court to enforce their 2001 prenuptial agreement, Country Standard Time reported. Kershaw hasn’t married again since.
Politics, Money and the Years Around the Divorce
Kershaw’s politics overlapped with the end of the marriage. On June 13, 2007, he announced a run for Louisiana lieutenant governor as a Republican.
In the October 20 primary, he polled about 30 percent. Democrat Mitch Landrieu won outright on the first ballot. Outlets disagree on whether that made Kershaw second or third, so we report only the percentage. Morgan filed for divorce days later.
He tried again in 2010. After the Gulf oil spill, he became spokesman for Protect Our Coastline in April, and he announced a second run on August 28.
In the October 2 special election, he polled 19 percent and carried 31 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes, more than any other candidate. He still finished third, and he backed Jay Dardenne, who won.
Honors came in between. The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inducted him in 2008, and the Louisiana Songwriters Association Hall of Fame followed in 2010.
Money stayed tight. Reports from the period also mention a Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing in 2007.
That context fits the estimate in our [INTERNAL LINK: Sammy Kershaw net worth → Sammy Kershaw Net Worth 2026 article]. It puts him at $2 million to $3 million, which is a structural inference, not a verified figure. No outlet has quantified what the campaigns, divorces or court fights cost him.
Sammy Kershaw Wife in 2026: Mendy Gregory and Natelia Mae
Kershaw isn’t married in 2026. His longtime partner is Mendy Gregory. People called her his longtime girlfriend when the couple welcomed Natelia Mae on September 11, 2019, in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Kershaw was 61 then, and the baby weighed 7 pounds. He told People the name honors his grandmother and Mendy’s grandmother.
Natelia Mae was his sixth child, per Country Standard Time’s report of the People story. He’s also father to daughters Emily, Erin and Sammie, son Brandon and stepson Ryan.
Coverage of the birth said he planned a more hands-on role than he’d had with his older children. That lines up with what he said about Kim, who did most of the raising.
Several sites call Mendy his wife. We found no report of a wedding from People, Country Standard Time or any other reputable outlet. A few low-quality sites even name wives that no reporting supports. Until a credible report appears, the Sammy Kershaw wife label doesn’t fit anyone today, and we call her his partner.
At 68, Kershaw is still touring. His acoustic Roots & Boots shows have put him onstage with Aaron Tippin, Collin Raye, Pam Tillis and Darryl Worley, among others.
Sammy Kershaw’s Career at a Glance
Here’s the career that ran alongside those marriages:
- 1991: Don’t Go Near the Water (Mercury) went Platinum, and “Cadillac Style” peaked at No. 3.
- 1993: Haunted Heart went Platinum. “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” hit No. 1 in April, and “Queen of My Double-Wide Trailer” made the Top 10.
- 1994: Feelin’ Good Train went Gold, with two No. 2 hits, “National Working Woman’s Holiday” and “Third Rate Romance.”
- 1996: Politics, Religion and Her went Gold, and he briefly owned a NASCAR Busch Series team.
- 1997: Labor of Love went Platinum. “Love of My Life” peaked at No. 2, his last Top 10 hit.
- 1999 and 2001: Duets with Lorrie Morgan, “Maybe Not Tonight” and the album I Finally Found Someone.
- 2003 to 2010: Labels included Audium Entertainment, Category 5 Records and Boomerville/Big Hit. Better Than I Used to Be arrived August 31, 2010.
- 2012 to 2024: A Christmas album (2012), All in the Same Boat (2013), Do You Know Me: A Tribute to George Jones (2014), The Blues Got Me (2016), Swamp Poppin’ (2017) and Cross Road Blues (2024).
In all, he has 16 studio albums, three Platinum and two Gold. About 25 singles made the Top 40, including ten more Top 10 hits beyond his No. 1.
Why the Sammy Kershaw Wife Story Still Draws Readers
The Sammy Kershaw wife story is really four stories, and only two are well documented. Kim shared his longest marriage, Morgan drew the most headlines, and the first two stay quiet. Today the Sammy Kershaw wife answer is simple: he has none, and at 68 he’s still singing.
More on This Topic: Sammy Kershaw “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful”: The Louisiana Roots Behind a Country Classic
FAQ
Who is the Sammy Kershaw wife today?
There isn’t one. Kershaw isn’t married in 2026. His longtime partner is Mendy Gregory, and they share a daughter, Natelia Mae, born September 11, 2019.
Who was the most famous Sammy Kershaw wife?
Singer Lorrie Morgan. They wed on September 29, 2001, and divorced in October 2007. They’d also recorded duets, including “Maybe Not Tonight,” which peaked at No. 17 in 1999.
How many times has Sammy Kershaw been married?
Four times, per the Nashville Scene and Country Standard Time. His wives were June Roy, a second woman few records name, Kim and Lorrie Morgan.
Is Mendy Gregory the Sammy Kershaw wife some sites describe?
No reputable outlet reports a marriage. People called her his longtime girlfriend in 2019, so we describe her as his partner.
How many children does Sammy Kershaw have?
Six, per People’s 2019 count: daughters Emily, Erin, Sammie and Natelia Mae, son Brandon and stepson Ryan. Some outlets list Natelia Mae as his fifth child.
Why did Sammy Kershaw and Lorrie Morgan divorce?
Morgan filed in October 2007, citing irreconcilable differences, and asked the court to enforce their prenuptial agreement. Neither has given a detailed public account we could verify.
Disclaimer: The personal histories and timelines detailed in this piece are compiled from verified public records, court filings, and historical media coverage. They reflect the documented public record rather than private statements or direct endorsements from the individuals mentioned.
Sources: Nashville Scene, “Love and War” by Beverly Keel (June 21, 2001); Country Standard Time (October 29, 2007, and September 13, 2019, quoting People); Taste of Country, famous country couples (2012); Country Weekly interview, as quoted in Kershaw’s published biography; Villages-News (June 28, 2016); Larry King Live (July 5, 2004); Billboard chart history.
