Big Kenny
The flamboyant, top-hat-wearing half of Big & Rich, who helped blast open country music's boundaries with rock energy and inclusive anthems.
Born 1963 (age 63)·American country music singer·Birthday: November 1·Baby Boomers
Biography
Big Kenny, born William Kenneth Alphin, brought a dose of unapologetic spectacle to Nashville. Before finding his perfect foil in John Rich, he was a solo artist and a songwriter, but it was their partnership that ignited a cultural moment. Together as Big & Rich, they became architects of the mid-2000s 'MuzikMafia,' a collective that welcomed outliers and pushed country toward rap, rock, and theatrical showmanship. With his signature top hat and boundless positivity, Kenny was the duo's spiritual engine, co-writing and belting out hits like 'Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)' that were as much party starters as they were genre-bending statements. Their work, particularly the anthem 'Love Everybody,' championed a message of inclusivity that was both personal creed and disruptive force in the industry.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Big was born in 1963, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Big Was Born
The biggest hits of 1963
#1 Movie
Cleopatra
Best Picture
Tom Jones
#1 TV Show
Beverly Hillbillies
Big's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1963Born
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1968Started school
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1976Became a teenager
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1979Could drive
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1981Could vote
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1984Turned 21
Apple Macintosh introduced
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $59,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"When Doves Cry" — PrinceBest Picture: Amadeus
1993Turned 30
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 40
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2013Turned 50
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $152,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan LewisBest Picture: 12 Years a Slave
2023Turned 60
ChatGPT goes mainstream; Israel-Hamas war begins
Gas: $3.52/galHome: $361,600Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Flowers" — Miley CyrusBest Picture: Oppenheimer
2026Age 63 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Co-founded the groundbreaking country duo Big & Rich, whose 2004 debut album 'Horse of a Different Color' went double-platinum.
- Co-wrote and performed the crossover hit 'Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy),' which became a lasting country-rock anthem and a top 10 country single.
- Helped establish the 'MuzikMafia' collective, which launched the careers of artists like Gretchen Wilson and challenged Nashville's mainstream conventions.
- Authored the book 'The Big & Rich Guide to the Universe: A God's Eye View of Living, Loving, and Having a Damn Good Time.'
Did You Know?
He survived a near-fatal car accident in 2001 that required extensive facial reconstruction and influenced his philosophical outlook on life.
He is an avid painter and has exhibited his abstract expressionist artwork.
He and his wife opened a boutique hotel, the Savoy Hotel, in downtown Nashville.
He adopted his stage name 'Big Kenny' early in his career because there were several other musicians named Kenny.
“We're all here for a purpose. I think my purpose is to bring joy.”
