Shirley Kyles was the first wife of soul singer Al Green. They married in June 1977 and divorced in 1983. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, she later alleged that Green was abusive during the marriage, and he acknowledged under oath that he had been.
Many online profiles add more: a military rank, a birthplace, a 2023 death. We could not tie those details to a primary source. This article separates what is documented from what is only repeated.
Who Shirley Kyles was: the verified basics
Reliable sources say less about Kyles than the search results suggest.
She was not a public official or a performer with her own documented career. Her public profile rests on two things: her marriage to Al Green and her allegations about it. Green, born in Forrest City, Arkansas, in 1946, is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and a Kennedy Center Honors recipient, per the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
BlackPast’s entry on Green says the couple had three daughters. We are not naming them. They are private individuals, and their names add nothing to the record.
The marriage and divorce, 1977–1983: what the record says
The marriage lasted about six years. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas dates the wedding to June 1977 and the divorce to 1983. It says Kyles later alleged abuse and that Green acknowledged under oath that he had been abusive.
That is the strongest verified statement available. It is attributed, it comes from a reference work with an editorial process, and it needs no embellishment.
Other details circulate online, but we could only confirm them in weaker form:
- A copy of Wikipedia’s Al Green article says Kyles filed for divorce in 1978 and again in 1981, and that Green admitted spousal abuse under oath in 1982. We could read only a mirror site, not the live page or the underlying court records, so treat these dates as reported.
- BlackPast says she filed for divorce in 1983. That differs from the mirror’s account and may reflect the final filing versus earlier ones. We cannot resolve it without court records.
- Sources disagree on the exact wedding day (June 15 or June 17), so “June 1977” is the safe wording.
Her 1995 interviews: what we can and can’t confirm
We can’t independently confirm them. Headline Magazine says Kyles gave interviews to the Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post in January 1995. Its account is detailed, but it links to neither article.
We could not open the original articles. For that reason, this piece uses no quotes or incident details from them. Anyone who wants the full account should find the originals through each newspaper’s archive or a library database, not through second-hand summaries.
Claims we couldn’t verify: “Army colonel,” birthplace, parents, net worth
Several biography pages repeat the same list of details. None of them cites a primary source.
| Claim | Status | Why |
| Married Al Green in June 1977 | Confirmed | Encyclopedia of Arkansas |
| Divorced in 1983 | Confirmed | Same source; BlackPast also places the divorce in 1983 |
| Alleged abuse; Green acknowledged it under oath | Confirmed (attributed) | Same source |
| Three daughters with Green | Confirmed | BlackPast |
| Divorce filings in 1978 and 1981; 1982 admission | Reported, unconfirmed | Seen only on a Wikipedia mirror |
| Gave newspaper interviews in January 1995 | Reported, unconfirmed | One site; originals not opened |
| Served as an Army colonel | No support found | Appears on several low-attribution sites, never with a source |
| Born in Oregon / born in Chicago | Conflict | Pages disagree; no primary record found |
| Parents’ names; university degrees | No support found | Identical wording across sites, no source |
| Settlement of $432,800 | Conflict | One site calls it 1983 alimony and child support, another a 1989 damages award |
| Net worth | No reliable source | Any figure is a guess |
| “Common-law wife, never legally married” | Contradicted | Reference works describe a marriage and a divorce |
When many pages repeat the same unsourced detail in similar words, that is likely copying, not confirmation.
Is Shirley Kyles dead? What an obituary can and can’t tell us
We can’t confirm it. The question deserves a careful answer because the evidence is easy to misread.
A Legacy.com obituary lists a Shirley Cephas Kyles of Mobile, Alabama, born July 28, 1948, who died July 17, 2023. The funeral home announced her passing. That obituary exists.
The portion we could read does not mention Al Green or any marriage to him. Several websites say this is Al Green’s ex-wife. We found no news report, family statement, or other primary source connecting the two. Other pages contradict the claim, with one saying no verified news source has confirmed a death and another placing her death decades earlier.
A shared name and a plausible age are not proof of identity. Linking an ordinary obituary to a famous name can misattribute a private family’s loss. Until a reliable source ties the two together, we are not stating whether she is living or has died.
Not to be confused with: Mary Woodson and the 1974 incident
Some sites blur two different stories.
In 1974, before Green married Kyles, a former girlfriend poured boiling grits on him and then used his gun to take her own life. Green suffered second-degree burns, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. That entry does not name her. Other reports, including Headline Magazine, identify her as Mary Woodson, and we are treating that name as secondary-sourced.
Shirley Kyles was not involved in that incident.
Timeline
| Date | Event | Confidence |
| 1974 | Green is burned in an incident involving a former girlfriend, who dies | High (Encyclopedia of Arkansas) |
| June 1977 | Green marries Shirley Kyles | High (Encyclopedia of Arkansas) |
| 1978, 1981 | Reported divorce filings | Low (mirror site only) |
| 1982 | Reported sworn admission by Green | Low (mirror site only) |
| 1983 | Divorce | High (Encyclopedia of Arkansas) |
| January 1995 | Reported newspaper interviews | Low (originals not opened) |
Discover more interesting reads here: Milo Hamish Ferguson: What the Evidence Supports, and What It Doesn’t
Frequently asked questions
Who was Shirley Kyles?
She was Al Green’s first wife, married to him from June 1977 until their 1983 divorce, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
Did Al Green admit to abusing her?
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says Kyles alleged abuse and that Green acknowledged under oath that he had been abusive.
How long were they married?
About six years, from June 1977 to 1983.
Was Shirley Kyles an Army colonel?
We found no reliable source for that claim. It appears on several sites that cite nothing.
Did Shirley Kyles throw grits on Al Green?
No. That 1974 incident involved a former girlfriend and happened before the marriage.
If you or someone you know is affected by domestic abuse
The National Domestic Violence Hotline offers free, confidential support at all hours. Call 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, or chat at thehotline, In immediate danger, call 911.
How we verified this
We checked key facts against the Encyclopedia of Arkansas (read in full) and BlackPast, and read the Legacy.com obituary page. We also read several competing biography pages to identify conflicts. We could not open the 1995 newspaper articles or the funeral home’s own page, which blocks automated access. Wikipedia was available to us only through a mirror. Details we could not confirm are labeled as such.
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