1. Kenneth Allan Kragen was an American music manager, television producer, author, speaker and non-profit consultant, best known for his role in organizing the 1985 benefit record "We Are the World" and the 1986 charity event.
16 Facts About Ken Kragen
1. 2.
Kenneth Allan Kragen was born on November 24,1936, as the son of Billie Bercovich, a professional violinist, and Adrian Kragen, a noted tax lawyer.
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Ken Kragen's birthplace has been variously cited as Alameda or Berkeley, California.
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Ken Kragen attended the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Business School.
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When Kragen was the executive producer of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, he met Kenny Rogers and The First Edition and became their manager.
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Ken Kragen married Cathy Worthington in 1978 and had a daughter.
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Ken Kragen doubted that a concert would make enough of a difference and suggested a charity single instead, including about a dozen artists.
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However, response from musicians was overwhelming, and Ken Kragen turned down several dozen artists who wished to appear on the song.
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Ken Kragen had been the manager for musician Harry Chapin, who, before his death in 1981, was a leading anti-hunger activist.
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Ken Kragen continued to work actively as a consultant for several companies and non-profits including the Southern California Jet Propulsion Laboratory; the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; and Rallysong100.
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Ken Kragen recently sold a reality show to Fremantle and was in development on four other shows.
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Ken Kragen was writing with Tony Robbins the 2015 book entitled Doing well by doing good and was producing an awards show in 2015 for the magazine Live Happy.
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In 1997 Ken Kragen was a featured speaker at, and consultant to, the Interface Corporation's annual meeting, held in Maui, which won the Global Paragon Award for strategic excellence from Meeting Professionals International.
14.
Ken Kragen portrayed himself in the 1996 TV movie The Late Shift about the battle between Jay Leno and David Letterman for The Tonight Show.
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Ken Kragen received multiple awards, including the United Nations' Peace Medal, the Man of The Year from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern California, two MTV Video Awards, and one Grammy nomination for the Best Music Video Long-Form.
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Ken Kragen died from natural causes at his home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, on December 14,2021, at the age of 85.