Kenny Rogers was a country music legend. The singer-songwriter’s career spanned seven decades and included numerous awards and record-breaking sales. And with that fame came money. Rogers owned many luxurious houses, including a mansion in one of Atlanta’s most exclusive neighborhoods. Now, years after the late music artist sold the property, it sits abandoned, an $8.5 million eyesore.
Kenny Rogers had a staggering net worth at the time of his death
Rogers began making music in 1956 when he was in high school, forming the rock band the Scholars. The musician revealed that when he started the group, his top priority wasn’t making money but scoring girls.
“Look, guys get into bands to find the girls. We can kid ourselves all we want, but it’s never about money at that age,” he told Variety in 2015.
Rogers hopped from one band to the next until his newest group, The First Edition, found success with “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town.”
After the song’s release, The First Edition broke up in 1976, and the singer pursued a solo career. Rogers’ solo endeavors saw him partner with artists like Dolly Parton and Dottie West and even enter into a songwriting partnership with singer-songwriter Lionel Richie.
Rogers is best known for hits like “The Gambler,” one of his crossovers that paid big time, winning him a Grammy Award and becoming one of the most iconic songs of all time. His and Parton’s song “Island in the Stream” was the first country song to top country, pop, and adult contemporary charts.
Rogers’ long and successful career wound down in 2017 when he began experiencing health issues, including a bladder cancer diagnosis. He faced health challenges until Mar. 20, 2020, when his family announced he had died under hospice care at home. Rogers was 81 years old and worth $250 million at his death.
Kenny Rogers’ abandoned former mansion is an expensive eyesore
Rogers had an impressive real estate portfolio that included two luxurious properties in Beverly Hills and Bel Air, California. He also owned several homes in upscale neighborhoods in and around Atlanta, Georgia. One of them was a 15,000-square-foot mansion with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a four-car garage, a state-of-the-art gym, and a full-sized bar.
The country music artist reportedly lived in the opulent home, built in the ’90s, until he sold it to a wealthy Nigerian family for $8.5 million in 2006. According to the famed YouTuber BigBankz, the family operated several dermatology locations. But around 2018, BigBankz says, they got into trouble with the federal government for owing millions of dollars in back taxes.
After their run-in with the IRS, the family moved back to Nigeria. However, one relative stayed behind to take care of the property. Instead, the caretaker rented it out for events, including weddings, raucous parties, and music video shoots for rappers such as Offset and 21 Savage, BigBankz reports.
After receiving more than a hundred noise complaints for over a year, the town reportedly shut down the operation around 2019. Since then, the mansion has stood vacant and neglected. The dreary exterior has overgrown weeds, dirty walls, and an in-ground pool full of algae.
Fans react to the abandoned multimillion-dollar mansion
Viewers who watched BigBankz’s YouTube video of Kenny Rogers’ former estate couldn’t help but comment on the property’s deplorable state.
“One of the first things I noticed was the dead goldfish in the fountain,” one follower wrote. “So apparently, they left all the fish to die. It just makes me sick to think that these people just didn’t appreciate what they had.”
“You can blatantly see the difference in the portions of the home that were Kenny’s style versus the other family’s style. So cool!” another said.
“It’s such a beautiful mansion! And Kenny Rogers is one of the few singers that I really admire. Such a shame that his former mansion was abandoned. I just hope somebody will buy it and restore it to its former glory,” another fan wrote.
“Wow! That is wild. I liked the outside better than the fixtures inside. It was a bit gaudy for my taste,” another commenter said. “Homes like these are super expensive to maintain, so unless you’re wealthy and not just rich, keeping this up is hard. Hopefully, someone buys it and refurbishes it to live in and care for.”
