Samuel Paul "Sammy" Kershaw (born February 24, 1958, in Kaplan in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana) is an American Country music singer and songwriter.

He is a relative of Cajun music legend Doug Kershaw.

Kershaw was defeated in his bid as a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Louisiana in the jungle primary on October 20, 2007. He received 375,964 votes (30 percent). The incumbent, Mitch Landrieu, was easily reelected, but Kershaw outpolled a second Republican candidate, State Representative Gary Beard of Baton Rouge, who finished with only 11 percent.

Born to modest carpenters from Kaplan, Kershaw grew up like most Louisianans – working hard, saying "ma’am", and going to church on Sundays.

At the age of eleven, Sammy got his first guitar, a gift from his grandfather. However, his father died that same year. Thereafter young Kershaw worked a variety of jobs by day while playing roadhouses at night to support his family.

He began performing in Acadiana with Louisiana legend J.B. Pere. Subsequently, he opened shows for Ray Price, Merle Haggard and George Jones while barely into his teens. When the pressures of growing up fast took their toll in the form of a serious drug and alcohol problem, he quit his bad habits cold turkey in 1988 and took a break from music to work as a remodeling supervisor at Wal-Mart.

One of Kershaw's demonstration tapes made its way to Mercury Nashville Records, which released his debut album in 1991. His traditional country voice found a receptive audience in the early 1990s, with hits like "Cadillac Style", "She Don't Know She's Beautiful" and a remake of the Amazing Rhythm Aces' "Third Rate Romance".

Sammy married country singer Lorrie Morgan on September 29, 2001. On October 23, 2007, Morgan filed for divorce from Kershaw citing irreconcilable differences.

He has released some fourteen albums in his career including I Want My Money Back on Audium Records in 2003.

For a time in the mid-2000s, Kershaw and Morgan owned and operated a chicken restaurant in Nashville and a corresponding website. Both businesses were titled "HotChickens.com".

Kershaw has residences in Nashville, Tennessee, and Abbeville. He established the Sammy Kershaw Foundation in his hometown of Kaplan, donating millions of dollars for the betterment of poverty-stricken children.

On June 13, 2007, Kershaw announced that he intended to be a candidate for lieutenant governor of Louisiana in the October 20, 2007, jungle primary. The position was held by the incumbent Democrat, Mitch Landrieu. Kershaw also faced a second Republican candidate, State Representative Gary Beard of Baton Rouge, an engineer first elected to the state House in a 2001 special election.

*Don't Go Near the Water (1991) *Business is Pleasure (1992) *Haunted Heart (1993) *Christmas Time's a-Comin (1994) *Feelin' Good Train (1994) *Politics, Religion and Her (1996) *Labor Of Love (1997) *Maybe Not Tonight (1999) *I Want My Money Back (2003) *Honky Tonk Boots (2006)

*The Hits: Chapter 1 (1995) *Coverin' the Hits (1997) *The Hits: Chapter 2 (2001) *20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Sammy Kershaw (2003) *The Definitive Collection (2004)

*^AReached #1 on Radio & Records country charts. *^BFailed to chart.

*The Official Sammy Kershaw website *NashvillePost.com story on bankruptcy filing, Feb. 2007 *Sammy Kershaw biography *Sammy Kershaw candidate website