LAST UPDATE | 21 Mar 2020
COUNTRY SINGER KENNY Rogers has passed away at the age of 81, his family announced today.
“The Rogers family is sad to announce that Kenny Rogers passed away last night at 10.25pm at the age of 81.”
“In a career that spanned more than six decades, Kenny Rogers left an indelible mark on the history of American music. His songs have endeared music lovers and touched the lives of millions around the world.”
His family is planning a small private service “out of concern for the national Covid-19 emergency.”
His family added that they are looking forward to celebrating Kenny’s life publicly with his friends and fans at a later date.
Rogers is best known for his chart-topping hits like The Gambler, Lady, Lucille, She Believes In Me, and Through the Years.
He also came to prominence through his many collaborations with Dolly Parton. The two were paired at the suggestion of the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb, who wrote Islands in the Stream.
Dolly Parton posted a video to Twitter expressing her sadness that her “friend and singing partner” had died.
She wrote on Twitter: “You never know how much you love somebody until they’re gone.
I’ve had so many wonderful years and wonderful times with my friend Kenny, but above all the music and the success I loved him as a wonderful man and a true friend.
“So you be safe with God and just know that I will always love you, Dolly.”
Rogers was a Country Music Hall of Fame member, six-time Country Music Award winner, and a three-time Grammy Award winner among others.
Rogers thrived for some 60 years before retired from touring in 2017 at age 79. Despite his crossover success, he always preferred to be thought of as a country singer.
“You either do what everyone else is doing and you do it better, or you do what no one else is doing and you don’t invite comparison,” Rogers told The Associated Press in 2015.
“And I chose that way because I could never be better than Johnny Cash or Willie or Waylon at what they did. So I found something that I could do that didn’t invite comparison to them. And I think people thought it was my desire to change country music. But that was never my issue.”
Rogers was raised in public housing in Houston, Texas with seven siblings. As a 20-year-old, he had a gold single called That Crazy Feeling, under the name Kenneth Rogers.
After a stint in folk group New Christy Minstrels, Rogers started his solo career in 1974 and found a big hit with the country ballad Lucille, in 1977, which crossed over to the pop charts and earned him his first Grammy.
Released in 1978, The Gambler album was a huge international hit, going multi-platinum, and the title track became his signature song.
Rogers also starred the film The Gambler, which was based on the song, but he liked to joke that he wasn’t much of a gambler himself.
“I learned a long time ago, I can’t win enough money to excite me, but I can lose enough to depress me,” he told NPR in 2015. “So I don’t gamble.”
He played his final concert at Nashville in October 2017, where he was joined by his long-time friend Dolly Parton for a final performance of Islands in the Stream.
In April 2018 Rogers scrapped the final dates of his farewell tour due to health concerns.
Married five times, he is survived by his wife Wanda and five children, including twin boys.
- With reporting from Associated Press
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