Lorrie Morgan has been married a remarkable six times to six different husbands. In order of occurrences, the talented American country musician was married to Ron Gaddis, Keith Whitley, Brad Thompson, Jon Randall, and Sammy Kershaw. She is presently married to Randy White.
Lorrie, who has undoubtedly written her name in history as one of the greatest country musicians of all time with over three dozen entries on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and multiple awards, has been less successful and unlucky in the institution of marriage. This article explores the Nashville, Tennessee native’s life with the six men she has said “I do” to in her illustrious lifetime and what her time being married to them was like.
Lorrie Morgan’s First Husband was Ron Gaddis, a Member of George Jones’ Road Band
The award-winning musician was only 20 years old when she decided to settle down to a life of marriage for the first time. The man she chose was a George Jones’ Road Band musician named Ron Gaddis. The specifics of how the ex-married couple met are not clear, but it would not be too far off to presume that they would have met at a music-related event, seeing as they were both actively involved in the music scene at the time.
We can also not account for how long they dated, but one thing that has been indisputable over the years remains the fact that they exchanged marital vows in 1979. As we progress in this article, it will become quite clear that Lorrie Morgan’s marriages followed pretty much the same trajectory in that each of her first five marriages lasted less than a decade and was drama-filled.
Her marriage to her first husband, Ron Gaddis, ended after only two years in 1981. Unfortunately, the singer has not revealed much about what went down in her first marriage that led to its breakdown and eventual divorce. Still, as we pointed out earlier, it probably was not devoid of drama.
The proceedings of the divorce have also not been revealed to the media or the public at this time. This was most likely due to the fact that she was still relatively unknown at the time. Short as the union was, Lorrie Morgan welcomed a daughter named Morgan Anastasia Gaddis with Ron Gaddis on December 22, 1980. Among other things, Morgan has been a very real reminder of her 2-year marriage to the Gadis.
Lorrie Morgan Has Been Married Five More Times Since The End of Her First Marriage
No one would argue the fact that Lorrie Morgan is a big believer in the marriage institution because since her marriage to Ron Gaddis ended in 1982, she has walked down the aisle a record five more times to say I do.
While about a couple of her husbands has been musicians, the talented 2-time Country Music Association Awards winner has also dated and married men who had very little contact with the music industry before her. Let’s meet them.
Lorraine Morgan’s Second Husband, Keith Whitely, Died 3 Years Into Their Marriage
In 1986, just five years after the end of her marriage to Gaddis, a then-28-year-old Lorrie Morgan decided to give marriage another try. This time she pitched her tent with fellow country musician Keith Whitley.
Born Jackie Keith Whitely in Ashland, Kentucky, United States, on July 1, 1954, Lorrie Morgan’s second husband was 5 years older than she was. He was also a big hitter in the country music genre, and the decision to wed each other made them a power couple. They had a son together in 1987 and named him Jesse Keith Whitley.
Whitley also adopted Morgan, Lorrie’s daughter from her first marriage to Ron Gaddis. During an interview with The Tennessean, she told the story of how Keith Whitley adopted Morgan Anastasia after the then-toddler had looked up at him and asked if he would adopt her. With tears in his eyes, the late singer told little Morgan that he would.
Lorrie Morgan claims that she would probably have been still married to Keith Whitley if he had not died of alcohol poisoning in 1989. While admitting to the love and devotion she had for her late ex-husband, she disclosed that he was addicted to alcohol and that she sometimes had to tie her legs to his just to keep him from sneaking out to get a drink.
She also revealed the struggles she had to face just to keep her marriage with him afloat, struggles she says she was no longer be willing to face if she ever met a man as addicted to alcohol as Whitley was.
She has, however, continued to honour the memory of her second husband. A case in point would be the concert that was hosted in his honour at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019. The concert, which featured artists like Garth Brooks, Daryl Worley, and several other singers, was held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his passing.
In all, Lorrie Morgan and Keith Whitely were married for just three years, which in reality, was a year longer than her first marriage. By Lorrie’s own admission, it could have been longer if he had not died, and barring the alcoholism, the former married couple did not have to deal with any monumental scandal or cheating issues.
Lorrie Morgan was Married To Brad Thompson For Just Two Years
Two years after sufficiently mourning her second husband, Lorrie Morgan was back on the marriage boulevard. This time though, she decided to go for a man with a different profile from the men she had been previously married to.
Her third husband is Brad Thompson, a bus driver for Clint Black. his identity was shocking to many fans of the singer at the time. It is not exactly clear how, when, or where they met. We also have no clue when they began dating officially, but we can confirm that Lorrie Morgan tied the knot with Brad Thompson in 1991.
The details of the ceremony are unknown at the moment, but the former couple was married for just two years, so by 1993, the marriage was over. They did not have any children together, and the exact details of the divorce proceedings appear to have been sealed off from anyone who isn’t Lorrie Morgan or Brad Thompson.
There is also no whiff of why they decided to go their separate ways, but our best guess, and probably the best guess of most people, would be that they divorced due to irreconcilable differences ranging from differences in lifestyle and values.
Jon Randall was Lorrie Morgan’s Fourth Husband
Not to be deterred, Lorrie Morgan continued her search for long-lasting happiness through marriage three years after her divorce from the former Clint Black bus driver Brad Thompson. The 3-time Grammy Awards nominee found love again in the arms of yet another musician Jon Randall.
The American songwriter, producer, and country musician was born on February 17, 1969, in Dallas, Texas, United States. Records show that he is just a few months shy of a decade younger than Lorrie Morgan, but those stats were clearly not something the former couple considered a hindrance to their union as man and wife.
In all probability, Lorrie Morgan met her fourth husband in a musical setting seeing as they both run in the same country music circles. They dated for a while before getting married in 1996. Sadly, and in keeping with the pattern of Lorrie Morgan’s marriages, the union lasted for just three years before coming to an end in 1999.
They did not have any scandal that we know of, but whatever led to the dissolution of their marriage is something neither of them has deemed fit to let the rest of the world in on. Lorrie Morgan and Jon Randall did not have any children together, and both of them have since moved on with their lives.
The country singer’s fourth husband got remarried to yet another country singer and songwriter, Jessi Alexander, while Lorrie has been married two separate times since they split.
Lorrie Morgan was Also Married to Sammy Kershaw
One thing that can be said for Lorrie Morgan is that she mastered the art of taking what was essentially an emotional break period that lasted anywhere between two and three years before embarking on her next marital journey. The break she took following the dissolution of her marriage to Jon Randall was technically two years.
Although, in reality, she had ended her marriage with her fourth husband to pursue the feelings she had for her fifth husband, Sammy Kershaw. Born Samuel Paul Kershaw on February 24, 1958, in Kaplan, Louisiana, Lorrie Morgan’s fifth husband is also a country music legend with 16 studio albums and more than 25 songs in the top 40 Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
It is not exactly clear how they met, but we can confirm that Kershaw was also married at the time. He would also leave his marriage to see where the feelings he had for Lorrie would lead to. Their decision to explore those feelings led to a marriage that was contracted in 2001.
From the outset of their marriage, though, they had to contend with a lot of people who were determined to see the marriage fail, so for a while, they faced those challenges in unity against their detractors. However, they gradually began to succumb to the external pressures from the critics, and their once peaceful marriage became quite violent to the point that they had to get restraining orders against each other.
The restraining orders derailed the progress of their marriage in the sense that it became impossible for them to address the issues they were battling at the time. Hence slowly but ultimately, the marriage came to an end. Several sources confirm that they briefly reconciled, but both Morgan and Kershaw chose to cut their losses in 2007. They had no children, and given the rancour that pervaded their union, it was probably best that they didn’t.
Lorrie Morgan is Currently Married to Randy White
On September 15, 2010, Lorrie Morgan exchanged marital vows for hopefully what would turn out to be the final time with Tennessee-based businessman Randy White. Their wedding ceremony was held at a beach, and it would appear that the sixth time, as opposed to the third time, is the charm for the 64 year-old veteran country musician.
Lorrie’s current marriage has lasted almost as long as her previous five marriages combined. The details of the relationship between Lorrie Morgan and Randy White have yet to be revealed to the public, but we hope that the marriage which has lasted 13 will be the last for the actress and singer.
With all she has been through in the marriage institution, the Nashville native surely deserves the kind of happiness she is experiencing in her marriage at the moment. Even though her marriage to Randy White has not produced any children, and given their advanced ages, and the unlikelihood of such an occurrence, Lorrie Morgan seems quite content in her marriage.
Four of Lorrie Morgan’s Husbands Were Fellow Singers
For the most part, Lorrie Morgan chose to marry men in the music industry, which is more or less her circle of influence. Her first, second, fourth, and fifth husbands are well-known in the country music circle. Some of them, like Sammy Kershaw, are just as well-known and famous as she is.
Lorrie Morgan Has Two Children From All Her Six Marriages
Lorrie Morgan has only two children, both of whom were born during her first and second marriages. She had her first daughter Morgan Anastasia Gaddis in 1980, during her marriage to Ron Gaddis, before welcoming her son Jesse Keith Whitley seven years later while married to her late ex-husband Keith Whitley.
During a July 2004 televised interview with Larry King on CNN, the veteran musician revealed that drama is something that lets you know you are alive. Given the level of drama she has had to go through in her marital journey, one would be hard-pressed to disagree with her views on the matter.
