Kenny Rogers, music legend and master four-minute storyteller
Kenny Rogers, a Grammy-winning balladeer who spanned jazz, folk, country, and pop with such hits as 鈥淟ucille,鈥� 鈥淟ady,鈥� and 鈥淭he Gambler鈥� died March 20.
Kenny Rogers, whose musical and movie career spanned six decades, has died at 81, a representative said on March 20, 2020. In this May 17, 1989 file photo Mr. Rogers was in Los Angeles.
Bob Galbraith/AP
Nashville, Tenn.
Kenny Rogers, the smooth, Grammy-winning balladeer who spanned jazz, folk, country, and pop with such hits as 鈥淟ucille,鈥� 鈥淟ady,鈥� and 鈥淚slands in the Stream鈥� and embraced his persona as 鈥淭he Gambler鈥� on records and on TV, died Friday night.聽
Mr. Rogers, 81, died at home in Sandy Springs, Georgia, representative Keith Hagan told The Associated Press. He died of natural causes, Mr. Hagan said.
The Houston-born performer with the husky voice and silver beard sold tens of millions of records, won three Grammys and was the star of TV movies based on 鈥淭he Gambler鈥� and other songs, making him a superstar in the 鈥�70s and 鈥�80s. Mr. Rogers聽thrived for some 60 years聽before retiring from touring in 2017 at age 79. Despite his crossover success, he always preferred to be thought of as a country singer.
鈥淵ou either do what everyone else is doing and you do it better, or you do what no one else is doing and you don鈥檛 invite comparison,鈥� Mr. Rogers told The Associated Press in 2015. 鈥淎nd 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鈥檛 invite comparison to them. And I think people thought it was my desire to change country music. But that was never my issue.鈥�
His 鈥淚slands in the Stream鈥� duet partner Dolly Parton posted a聽聽on Twitter on Saturday morning, choking up as she held a picture of the two of them together. 鈥淚 loved Kenny with all my heart and my heart is broken and a big ole chunk of it is gone with him today," Ms. Parton said in the video.
鈥淜enny was one of those artists who transcended beyond one format and geographic borders,鈥� says Sarah Trahern, chief executive officer of the Country Music Association. 鈥淗e was a global superstar who helped introduce country music to audiences all around the world."
Mr. Rogers was a five-time CMA Award winner, as well as the recipient of the CMA's Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, the same year he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He received 10 awards from the Academy of Country Music. He sold more than 47 million records in the United States alone, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
A true rags-to-riches story, Mr. Rogers was raised in public housing in Houston Heights with seven siblings. As a 20-year-old, he had a gold single called 鈥淭hat Crazy Feeling,鈥� under the name Kenneth Rogers, but when that early success stalled, he joined a jazz group, the Bobby Doyle Trio, as a standup bass player.
But his breakthrough came when he was asked to join the New Christy Minstrels, a folk group, in 1966. The band reformed as First Edition and scored a pop hit with the psychedelic song, 鈥淛ust Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).鈥� Mr. Rogers and First Edition mixed country-rock and folk on songs like 鈥淩uby, Don鈥檛 Take Your Love To Town,鈥� a story of a Vietnam veteran begging his girlfriend to stay.
After the group broke up in 1974, Mr. Rogers started his solo career and found a big hit with the sad country ballad 鈥淟ucille,鈥� in 1977, which crossed over to the pop charts and earned Mr. Rogers his first Grammy. Suddenly the star, Mr. Rogers added hit after hit for more than a decade.
鈥淭he Gambler,鈥� the Grammy-winning story song penned by Don Schlitz, came out in 1978 and became his signature song with a signature refrain: 鈥淵ou gotta know when to hold 鈥榚m, know when to fold 鈥檈m.鈥� The song spawned a hit TV movie of the same name and several more sequels featuring Mr. Rogers as professional gambler Brady Hawkes, and led to a lengthy side career for Mr. Rogers as a TV actor and host of several TV specials.
鈥淚 think the best that any songwriter could hope for is to have Kenny Rogers sing one of your songs,鈥� said Mr. Schlitz, who also co-wrote the other Parton-Rogers duet 鈥淵ou Can鈥檛 Make Old Friends.鈥� 鈥淗e gave so many career songs to so many of us.鈥�
Mr. Schlitz noted that some of Mr. Rogers鈥� biggest hits were songs that had been recorded previously, but his versions became the most popular. 鈥淭he Gambler鈥� had been recorded six other times before Mr. Rogers and 鈥淩uby Don鈥檛 Take Your Love to Town,鈥� by Mel Tillis, was also recorded by other artists before Mr. Rogers.
鈥淣o one bridged the gap between country and pop more often and better than K.R. He will be missed but his music and diverse style of story-telling will live on forever,鈥� said Billy Ray Cyrus.聽
Other hits included 鈥淵ou Decorated My Life,鈥� 鈥淓very Time Two Fools Collide鈥� with Dottie West, 鈥淒on鈥檛 Fall In Love with a Dreamer鈥� with Kim Carnes, and 鈥淐oward of the County.鈥� One of his biggest successes was 鈥淟ady,鈥� written by Lionel Richie, a chart topper for six weeks straight in 1980. Mr. Richie said in a 2017 interview with the AP that he often didn鈥檛 finish songs until he had already pitched them, which was the case for 鈥淟ady.鈥�
鈥淚n the beginning, the song was called, 鈥楤aby,'鈥� Mr. Richie said. 鈥淎nd because when I first sat with him, for the first 30 minutes, all he talked about was he just got married to a real lady. A country guy like him is married to a lady. So, he said, 鈥楤y the way, what鈥檚 the name of the song?鈥欌�� Mr. Richie replies: 鈥淟ady.鈥�
Over the years, Mr. Rogers worked often with female duet partners, most memorably, Dolly Parton. The two were paired at the suggestion of the Bee Gees鈥� Barry Gibb, who wrote 鈥淚slands in the Stream.鈥�
鈥淏arry was producing an album on me and he gave me this song,鈥� Mr. Rogers told the AP in 2017. 鈥淎nd I went and learned it and went into the studio and sang it for four days. And I finally looked at him and said, 鈥楤arry, I don鈥檛 even like this song anymore.鈥� And he said, 鈥榊ou know what we need? We need Dolly Parton.鈥� I thought, 鈥楳an, that guy is a visionary.鈥欌��
Coincidentally, Ms. Parton was actually in the same recording studio in Los Angeles when the idea came up.
鈥淔rom the moment she marched into that room, that song never sounded the same,鈥� Mr. Rogers said. 鈥淚t took on a whole new spirit.鈥�
The two singers toured together, including in Australia and New Zealand in 1984 and 1987, and were featured in a HBO concert special. Over the years the two would continue to record together, including their last duet, 鈥淵ou Can鈥檛 Make Old Friends,鈥� which was released in 2013. Ms. Parton聽聽with Mr. Rogers during his聽all-star retirement concert聽held in Nashville in October 2017.
Mr. Rogers invested his time and money in a lot of other endeavors over his career, including a passion for photography that led to several books, as well as an autobiography, 鈥淢aking It With Music.鈥� He had a chain of restaurants called Kenny Rogers Roasters and was a partner behind a riverboat in Branson, Missouri. He was also involved in numerous charitable causes, among them the Red Cross and MusiCares, and was part of the all-star 鈥淲e are the World鈥� recording for famine relief.
By the '90s, his ability to chart hits had waned, although he still remained a popular live entertainer with regular touring. Still he was an inventive businessman and never stopped trying to find his way back onto the charts.
At the age of 61, Mr. Rogers had a brief comeback on the country charts in 2000 with a hit song 鈥淏uy Me A Rose,鈥� thanks to his other favorite medium, television. Producers of the series 鈥淭ouched By An Angel鈥� wanted him to appear in an episode, and one of his managers suggested the episode be based on his latest single. That cross-promotional event earned him his first No. 1 country song in 13 years.
Mr. Rogers is survived by his wife, Wanda, and his sons Justin, Jordan, Chris, and Kenny Jr., as well as two brothers, a sister, and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, his representative said. The family is planning a private service 鈥渙ut of concern for the national COVID-19 emergency,鈥� a statement posted early Saturday read. A public memorial will be held at a later date.
This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP journalist Mallika Sen contributed from Los Angeles.
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