![]() ![]() Burck and his wife, Patty have been married since 2013. “She said, ‘Hi papacito.’ Not knowing much Spanish, I replied, ‘Hi mamacita,’ and that was that,” says Burck, smiling. Cruz had seen photos of The Naked Cowboy back in Mexico, and now here he was in the flesh, so to speak. In 2008, while working in Times Square’s Cranberry Cafe, then-19-year-old Cruz met Burck, who had come in to grab some sushi during his lunch break. In 2003, at the age of 14, she crossed the Mexico-United States border with her sister and lived undocumented for years. The internet measures his frame at 6-foot-4, but according to Burck, “I’m 6-foot-2 with my boots on.” He calls himself a clean eater: “I’ve eaten steamed chicken and broccoli takeout for dinner practically every night for six years.” A cowboy meets his cowgirlįood is what led Burck to his now-wife, Patricia Cruz, originally from Mexico. ![]() “I weigh 185 in the summer and 215 in the winter,” he says. We head to 7-Eleven to pick up a protein bar and a pre-packaged set of grilled chicken breast skewers that Burck eats while he drives to Manhattan. “Suddenly, I was eating like 25 Whoppers and 25 cans of tuna at a time and I gained 100 pounds in one year,” he says.Īfter a brief workout-which includes 600-pound leg presses-Burck kisses his wife goodbye. The skinniest kid in high school with big dreams of being a doctor, lawyer, or president of the United States, Burck says he later became interested in bulking up when he noticed his friends had started going to the gym. In an effort to help, his parents sent him to see a psychiatrist. “I would get on the scale with the goal of being lighter every time.” My dad was always a big guy and my mom constantly weighed herself, and I got into the habit of doing it too,” he says. One would think a man who spends the majority of his life practically naked would have a healthy body image, but Burck admits to struggling over the years. #Sushi boy mexico portableBurck, who has read Tony Robbins’ book Unlimited Power 38 times, writes down his daily “blueprint for action.” He also records it into a portable dictaphone and plays it back to himself during his commute. He also takes his signature cowboy hat, boots, and his Naked Cowboy journal, where he makes notes of everything from his schedule to mantras and affirmations. After he whips up a plate of scrambled eggs to share with Patty, his wife of six years, it’s time for a workout before heading to Times Square.īurck grabs several pairs of freshly painted underwear from hangers in his living room, explaining that the summer heat often means multiple costume changes in order to remain fresh throughout the day. I meet Burke at his house in Queens an early morning in August. “The photographer called me ‘his little naked cowboy’ and that’s when it all started.” Naked confidence I mean, by that point, I’d been a nude model, a stripper, and a dancer in gay bars wearing a pair of Daisy Dukes, so I thought, ‘Why not?’ That day I made 100 bucks,” recalls Burck. “The photographer from the shoot suggested I go back the next day and play in my underwear. Decked out in cowboy apparel, Burck made his way to the boardwalk, guitar in hand, to perform and drum up some extra cash. It all began in December 1997, when he was visiting Venice Beach, California for a Playgirl shoot. While Burck may not consider spending nearly 365 days a year over the past 20 years entertaining a “job,” he has intentionally and successfully managed to parlay his outlandish behavior into a global brand. Later on, they ended up featuring him in the alumni magazine.” “In fact, after he graduated from the University of Cincinnati, he went back for a visit and was escorted off campus because they deemed him to be an oddity. “When he was little, he said he was going to be rich and famous, and that’s just what he’s done,” Kenny Burck laughs. The elder Burck, a devoted churchgoer, was initially embarrassed by his son’s lifestyle, but now fully supports him. “He’s the greatest self-promoter of all time,” says his dad, Kenny R. ![]() I’ve been an attention freak since day one.” I mean, this isn’t a job for me,” says the 48-year-old one-man show. He is often referred to as one of New York’s top tourist attractions.īurck estimates that he earns $150,000 a year from busking-although that figure does not include corporate sponsorships, private appearances, or sales from his three albums and book. | Photo: Alexandra Charitan Successful unemploymentīurck, a Greenhills, Ohio native known by the moniker “The Naked Cowboy,” has been a Times Square fixture since 1998. ![]()
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