Kenny Rogers

Kenneth Ray Rogers was born the fourth of eight children on August 21, 1938, at St Joseph's Infirmary in Houston, Texas.{{cite news|url=https://abc13.com/houston-kenny-rogers-dead-san-felipe-courts-fourth-ward/6036307/|title=Kenny Rogers remembered through the years in Houston|work=KTRK-TV}} His parents were Lucille Lois Rogers, a nurse's assistant, and Edward Floyd Rogers, a carpenter. Rogers was said to be of Irish and Native American ancestry.{{cite web|last1=Dalyhe|first1=John|title=Kenny Rogers takes his love to (Killarney) town|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/kenny-rogers-takes-his-love-to-killarney-town-235720.html|website=Irish Examiner|date=July 2013|access-date=February 11, 2017}} Rogers attended Wharton Elementary School,Rogers, Kenny. Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir. HarperCollins, October 2, 2012. {{ISBN|0062071602}}, 9780062071606. Google Books [https://books.google.com/books?id=EoweMleE6X4C&pg=PT11 PT11] George Washington Junior High School, and graduated from Jefferson Davis High School (now Northside High School) in 1956.{{Cn|date=August 2024}}

In 1949, Rogers won a talent show at the Texan Theatre. He served as a busboy at the Rice Hotel and swept floors at a hat store for $9 a week. He later attended the University of Houston.{{Cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/music/kenny-rogers-passes-away-at-81-11459641|title=Houston Native and Music Megastar Kenny Rogers Dies at 81|last=Ruggiero|first=Bob|date=March 21, 2020|website=Houston Press|access-date=March 23, 2020}}

In 1986, on The Phil Donahue Show, Rogers told the audience that he was the first person in his family "as far back as we know" to graduate from high school.

We were broke. We lived in a federal housing project. I think the most money my father ever made was $75 a week. There were times as a child that, I don't think I was ever really hungry – I always had food to eat – but there's no question that our family was nutritionally deprived at times. We'd eat peanut butter sandwiches, 'cause that's all there was. Quite honestly, when you're a kid, you don't know any better, you think that's how everyone eats.{{Citation|title=Phil Donahue Show w/Kenny Rogers: 10-7-1986| date=March 16, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_brfPJOU1QI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/_brfPJOU1QI| archive-date=December 12, 2021 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=August 22, 2021}}{{cbignore}}

In a recording career dating back to the 1950s, Rogers moved from teenager rock and roll through psychedelic rock to become a country-pop crossover artist of the 1970s and 1980s. He had a minor solo hit in 1957 called "That Crazy Feeling".{{Cite news |url=https://www.news-journal.com/news/2017/apr/01/kenny-rogers-to-join-texas-country-music-hall-of-f/ |title=After six decades, Kenny Rogers knows it's time to fold 'em |website=News-journal.com |date=April 6, 2017 |access-date=April 7, 2017 |author=Tunis, Walter |archive-date=April 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409110753/https://www.news-journal.com/news/2017/apr/01/kenny-rogers-to-join-texas-country-music-hall-of-f/ |url-status=dead }}{{YouTube | id=kuApd7nQ65s | title=Kenny Rogers – That Crazy Feeling (1957)}} After sales slowed down, Rogers joined a jazz group called the Bobby Doyle Three, who were frequently hired by clubs due to their fan following. The group recorded for Columbia Records. They disbanded in 1965, and a 1966 jazzy rock single Rogers recorded for Mercury Records, called "Here's That Rainy Day", failed. Rogers also worked as a producer, writer, and session musician for other performers, including country artists Mickey Gilley and Eddy Arnold. In 1966, he joined the New Christy Minstrels as a singer and double bass player.

Feeling that the Minstrels were not offering the success they wanted, Rogers and fellow members Mike Settle, Terry Williams, and Thelma Camacho left the group. They formed the First Edition in 1967 (later renamed "Kenny Rogers and the First Edition"). They were later joined by Kin Vassy. They chalked up a string of hits on both the pop and country charts, including "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" (Rogers doing lead vocals and bass—and famously used in the dream sequence of the Coen brothers' The Big Lebowski), "But You Know I Love You", "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town", "Tell It All, Brother", "Reuben James", and "Something's Burning".

When the First Edition disbanded in 1976, Rogers launched his solo career.{{Cite news |last1=Gordon |first1=Dave |title=Kenny Rogers prepares to hang up his microphone |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39784924 |access-date=March 21, 2020 |work=BBC News |date=May 8, 2017}} He soon developed a more middle-of-the-road sound that sold to both pop and country audiences. He charted more than 60 top-40 hit singles (including two number ones—"Lady" and "Islands in the Stream"). His music has been featured in top-selling movie soundtracks, such as Convoy, Urban Cowboy, and The Big Lebowski.{{Cite web|title=The Big Lebowski: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack|url=https://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Lebowski-Original-Soundtrack/dp/B000001EYO|website=Amazon.com|date=February 13, 1998 |access-date=May 9, 2012}}{{Cite web|title=Urban Cowboy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack|url=https://www.amazon.com/Urban-Cowboy-Original-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B000002H4B/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1336598742&sr=1-1|website=Amazon.com| date=February 13, 1995 |access-date=May 9, 2012}}

As the First Edition was breaking up in 1975, Rogers was the face of a national commercial advertising the "Quick Pickin' Fun Strummin' Home Guitar Course",{{cite web|website=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kenny-rogers-death-singer-country-pop-music-the-gambler-lucille-age-cause-a9417971.html|title=Kenny Rogers: Country singer who crossed over into mainstream pop success|first=Terence|last=McArdle|date=March 23, 2020|accessdate=February 18, 2024}} but in 1976, Rogers signed a solo deal with United Artists. Producer Larry Butler and Rogers began a partnership that would last four years.{{cite news | first = Bill | last = Friskics-Warren | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/arts/music/larry-butler-producer-for-kenny-rogers-dies-at-69.html | title = Larry Butler, Producer for Kenny Rogers, Dies at 69 | newspaper=The New York Times |date = January 24, 2012 | access-date = October 10, 2012}}

Rogers's first outing for his new label was Love Lifted Me. The album charted and two singles, "Love Lifted Me" and "While the Feeling's Good", were minor hits. The song "Runaway Girl" was featured in the film Trackdown (1976).{{cite web |title=Trackdown (1976) |url=http://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/55958 |website=AFI |access-date=March 21, 2020}} Later in 1976, Rogers issued his second album, the self-titled Kenny Rogers, whose first single, "Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)", was another solo hit.{{cite web |title=Chart history – Kenny Rogers |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/kenny-rogers/chart-history/csi/ |website=Billboard.com |access-date=March 23, 2020}}

The single "Lucille" (1977) was a major hit, reaching number one on the pop charts in 12 countries, selling over five million copies, and firmly establishing Rogers's post-First Edition career.{{cite news |title=Rugby World Cup: A new national anthem? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rugby-world-cup-a-new-national-anthem-397038.html |access-date=March 21, 2020 |newspaper=The Independent |date=October 17, 2007 }} On the strength of "Lucille", the album Kenny Rogers reached number one on the Billboard Country Album Chart.{{cite web |title=Chart History Kenny Rogers |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/kenny-rogers/chart-history/csi/ |website=Billboard.com |access-date=March 23, 2020}} More success was to follow, including the multiplatinum-selling album The Gambler and another international number one single, "Coward of the County", taken from the equally successful album, Kenny. In 1980, the Rogers/Butler partnership came to an end, though they occasionally reunited, in 1987 on the album I Prefer the Moonlight and again in 1993 on the album If Only My Heart Had a Voice.

In the late 1970s, Rogers teamed up with close friend Dottie West for a series of albums and duets. Together, the duo won two gold records (one of which later went platinum), two CMA Awards, an ACM nomination, two Grammy nominations, and one Music City News award for their two hit albums Every Time Two Fools Collide (number one) and Classics (number three), selling out stadiums and arenas while on tour for several years, as well as appearing on several network television specials, which showcased them. Their hits together, "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (number one), "Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight" (number two), "What Are We Doin' in Love" (number one), "All I Ever Need Is You" (number one), and "Till I Can Make It On My Own" (number three), all became country standards. Of West, Rogers stated in a 1995 TNN interview: "She, more than anybody else I ever worked with, sang with such emotion that you actually believed what she sang. A lot of people sing words, Dottie West sang emotions." In a 1978 press release for their album Every Time Two Fools Collide, Rogers credited West with further establishing and cementing his career with country music audiences. In the same release, West credited him with taking her career to new audiences. Rogers was with West only hours before she died at age 58 after sustaining injuries in a 1991 car accident, as discussed in his 2012 biography Luck or Something Like It. In 1995, he starred as himself, alongside Michele Lee as West, in the CBS biographical film Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story.

In 1980, a selection he recorded as a duet with Kim Carnes, "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer", became a hit.{{cite web|url=http://jacksonville.com/entertainment/2017-01-26/kenny-rogers-final-tour-retiring-includes-concert-thrasher-horne-saturday |title=Kenny Rogers's final tour before retiring includes concert at Thrasher-Horne on Saturday |author=Crumpler, David |date=January 26, 2017 |access-date=April 7, 2017 |work=The Florida Times-Union}} Earlier that year, he sang a duet of "You and Me" with Lynda Carter in her television music special Lynda Carter Special (Rogers originally recorded this with Dottie West for the Every Time Two Fools Collide album). Later in 1980 came his partnership with Lionel Richie, who wrote and produced Rogers's number-one hit "Lady". Richie went on to produce Rogers's 1981 album Share Your Love, a chart topper and commercial favorite featuring hits such as "I Don't Need You" (pop number three), "Through the Years" (pop number 13), and "Share Your Love with Me" (pop number 14). His first Christmas album was also released that same year. Rogers returned the favor by singing backing vocals on Richie's top-five hit "My Love". In 1982, Rogers released the album Love Will Turn You Around. The album's the title track reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the country and AC charts. It was the theme song of Rogers's 1982 film Six Pack. Shortly afterwards, he started working with producer David Foster in 1983, recording the smash Top 10 hit Bob Seger cover "We've Got Tonight", a duet with Sheena Easton. Also a number-one single on the country charts in the United States, it reached the top 30 on the British charts.

In 1981, Rogers bought the old ABC Dunhill building and built one of the most popular and state-of-the-art recording studios in Los Angeles, which he named Lion Share Studios. The song "We Are the World" was recorded there and at A&M Studios.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FyUEAAAAMBAJ&q=kenny+rogers+lion+share+recording+studio&pg=PA52|title=Rogers Buys Studio|last=McCullaugh|page=52|first=Jim|magazine=Billboard|date=February 6, 1982|via=Google Books}}

Rogers went on to work with Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, who produced his 1983 hit album Eyes That See in the Dark, featuring the title track and yet another number-one hit "Islands in the Stream", a duet with Dolly Parton. Gibb, along with his brothers, Robin and Maurice, originally wrote the song for Diana Ross in an R&B style, only later to change it for Rogers's album.{{cite magazine |last=Newman |first=Melinda |title=Barry Gibb on Reuniting with Dolly Parton & Who He 'Freaked Out' Over While Recording New Country Duets Album |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/country/barry-gibb-interview-duets-album-dolly-parton-9507251/ |magazine=Billboard |date=January 5, 2021}}

"Islands in the Stream", Rogers's duet with Dolly Parton, was the first single to be released from Eyes That See in the Dark in the United States, and it quickly went to number one in the Billboard Hot 100 (it proved to be the last country single to reach number one on that chart until "Amazed" by Lonestar did so in 2000), as well as topping Billboard{{'}}s country and adult contemporary singles charts; it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipping two million copies in the United States. Rogers reunited with Parton in 1984 for a holiday album, Once Upon a Christmas, and the TV special Kenny and Dolly: A Christmas to Remember (which resulted in a popular video of "Christmas Without You"), as well as a 1985 duet "Real Love", which also topped the U.S. country singles chart. The two continued to collaborate on occasional projects through subsequent years, including a 2013 duet single "You Can't Make Old Friends".

Despite the success of "Islands in the Stream", however, RCA Records insisted on releasing Eyes{{'}} title track as the first UK single, and the song stalled at a disappointing number 61 there, although it did stay in the top 100 for several weeks. (When it was eventually released in the United States, it was more successful, charting high on the adult contemporary chart and making the country top 30). "Islands in the Stream" was issued as a follow-up single in Britain and sold well, making number seven. The album itself reached number one on the country charts on both sides of the Atlantic and enjoyed multimillion unit sales. "Buried Treasure", "This Woman", and "Evening Star"/"Midsummer Nights" were also all successful singles from the album.

Shortly after came the album What About Me?, a hit whose title track—a trio performance with James Ingram and Kim Carnes—was nominated for a Grammy Award; the single "Crazy" (not to be confused with the Willie Nelson-penned Patsy Cline hit), co-written with Richard Marx, topped the country charts. David Foster was to work again with Rogers in his 1985 album The Heart of the Matter, although this time Foster was playing backing music rather than producing, a role given to George Martin. This album was another success, going to number one, with the title track making to the top-10 category in the singles charts.

The next few years had Rogers scoring several top country hits on a regular basis, including "Twenty Years Ago", "Morning Desire", and "Tomb of the Unknown Love", among others. On January 28, 1985, Rogers was one of the 45 artists who recorded the worldwide charity song "We Are the World" to support hunger victims in Africa. The following year, he played at Giants Stadium.{{cite web|title=Kenny Rogers Concert Tickets|website=Frontrowking.com|url=http://www.frontrowking.com/buy-kenny-rogers-concert-tickets/index.html|access-date=February 13, 2014|archive-date=February 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210120409/http://www.frontrowking.com/buy-kenny-rogers-concert-tickets/index.html|url-status=dead}}

In 1988, Rogers won a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals with Ronnie Milsap—"Make No Mistake, She's Mine". In the 1990s, Rogers continued to chart with singles such as "The Factory" and "Crazy in Love", another selection Kim Carnes provided him, "If You Want to Find Love", and "The Greatest". His second Christmas album, Christmas in America, was released in 1989 for Reprise Records. From 1991 to 1994, Rogers hosted The Real West on A&E, and on the History Channel since 1995 (reruns only on the History Channel). He visited Miller's during this time. From 1992 to 1995, Rogers co-owned and headlined Branson, Missouri's 4,000-seat Grand Palace Theatre. In 1994, Rogers released his "dream" album titled Timepiece on Atlantic Records. It consisted of 1930s/1940s jazz standards, the type of music he had performed in his early days with the Bobby Doyle Three in Houston.{{cite web |url=http://www.theoaklandpress.com/arts-and-entertainment/20161201/kenny-rogers-plans-to-fold-em-after-final-concert-tour |title=Kenny Rogers plans to fold 'em after final concert tour |author=Graff, Gary |date=December 1, 2016 |access-date=April 7, 2017 |work=Oakland Press}}

In 1996, Rogers released an album Vote for Love, where the public requested their favorite love songs and Rogers performed the songs. (Several of his own hits were in the final version.) The album was the first for the TV shopping channel QVC's record label, onQ Music. The album, sold exclusively by QVC, was a huge success and was later issued in stores under a variety of different titles. It reached number one in the UK country charts under the title Love Songs (a title also used for various compilations) and also crossed over into the mainstream charts.

In 1999, Rogers scored with the single "The Greatest", a song about life from a child's point of view (looked at through a baseball game). The song reached the top 40 of Billboard's Country Singles chart and was a Country Music Television number-one video. It was on Rogers's album She Rides Wild Horses the following year (itself a top-10 success). Also in 1999, Rogers produced a song, "We've Got It All", specifically for the series finale of the ABC show Home Improvement.

File:WIKI KENNY ROGERS.jpg

In 2000 (and at age 61), Rogers was back at number one for the first time in more than a decade with the single "Buy Me a Rose". In doing so, he broke a 26-year-old record held by Hank Snow (who, in April 1974, was 59 when he scored with "Hello Love"). Rogers held the record until 2003, when then-70-year-old Willie Nelson became the oldest artist to have a number one on the country charts with his duet with Toby Keith, "Beer for My Horses".

Although Rogers did not record new albums for a few years, he continued to have success in many countries with more greatest hits packages. In 2004's 42 Ultimate Hits, which was the first hits collection to span his days with the First Edition to the present, reached number six on the American country charts and went gold. It also featured two new songs, "My World Is Over" with Whitney Duncan and "We Are the Same". The former was released as a single and was a minor hit. In 2005, The Very Best of Kenny Rogers, a double album, sold well in Europe. It was the first new solo Rogers hits album to reach the United Kingdom for over a decade, despite many compilations there that were not true hits packages.

Rogers also signed with Capitol Records and had more success with the TV-advertised release 21 Number Ones in January 2006. Although this CD did contain 21 chart-toppers as the title claims (recorded between 1976 and the present day), this was not a complete collection of Rogers's number-one singles, omitting such singles as "Crazy in Love" and "What About Me?"

Capitol followed 21 Number Ones with Rogers' new studio album, Water & Bridges, in March 2006 on the Capitol Nashville Records label. The first single from the album was "I Can't Unlove You", which peaked at number 17 on the country charts, after spending over six months on the hit list, more than 50 years after he formed his first group and 38 years after his first major hit as leader of the First Edition; the song remains in recurrent airplay on some radio stations today. "I Can't Unlove You" was followed up with the second single from the album, "The Last Ten Years (Superman)", in September 2006. The third single, "Calling Me", which features Don Henley, became popular in early 2007, and was nominated for a Grammy at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Also in 2007, the 1977 Kenny Rogers album was reissued as a double CD, also featuring the 1979 Kenny album and this once again put Rogers's name into the sales charts worldwide. The following year, another compilation album (A Love Song Collection) also charted.

On August 26, 2008, Rogers released 50 Years{{cite web|url=http://music.aol.ca/article/kenny-rogers-celebrates-new-project-of-old-classics/336423|title=Kenny Rogers Q&A—Celebrates New Project with Old Classics|publisher=AOL Music Canada|date=March 24, 2009|access-date=July 21, 2011|archive-date=July 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706164655/http://music.aol.ca/article/kenny-rogers-celebrates-new-project-of-old-classics/336423/|url-status=dead}} exclusively at Cracker Barrel stores. The album included some of Rogers's greatest hits, plus three new songs. The release was designed to celebrate Rogers's 50th year in the music business. In 2007, the England national rugby union team adopted Rogers' song "The Gambler" as their unofficial 2007 Rugby World Cup anthem,{{cite news|last=Britten|first=Nick|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1565734/Kenny-the-Gambler-Rogers-backs-England.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1565734/Kenny-the-Gambler-Rogers-backs-England.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Kenny 'the Gambler' Rogers backs England|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=October 10, 2007|access-date=July 21, 2011}}{{cbignore}} after hearing prop Matt Stevens playing it in the team hotel. Before the semifinal against France and the final against South Africa, Rogers sent video messages of support to the team in light of them choosing his song.{{cite news|title=Rugby World Cup: A new national anthem? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rugby-world-cup-a-new-national-anthem-397038.html |date=October 17, 2007 |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=March 23, 2020}}

File:Kenny Rogers (7787973332).jpg in Sydney, Australia]]

In 2008, Rogers toured with his Christmas Show. He split the show up, making the first half his "best of" and the second half his Christmas songs.{{cite web|url=http://newsroom.mohegansun.com/2008/12/11/the-best-entertainers-are-heading-to-mohegan-this-holiday-season.html|title=The Best Entertainers Are Heading To Mohegan This Holiday Season|publisher=Mohegan Sun Casino|date=December 11, 2008|access-date=July 21, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714111225/http://newsroom.mohegansun.com/2008/12/11/the-best-entertainers-are-heading-to-mohegan-this-holiday-season.html|archive-date=July 14, 2011|url-status=dead}} In 2009, Rogers embarked on his 50th Anniversary Tour.

On April 10, 2010, a TV special was taped, Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years. Dolly Parton and Lionel Richie were among those set to perform with Rogers during a show celebrating his contribution to country, blues, and pop music. It took place at the MGM Grand in Foxwoods. The TV special was executive produced by Gabriel Gornell and Colleen Seldin and aired on GAC in North America and BBC worldwide.

On June 10, 2012, Rogers appeared on stage with the musical group Phish to perform his hit song "The Gambler" at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Also in 2012, Rogers re-recorded the hit song "Lady", a duet with its songwriter Lionel Richie, on Richie's album Tuskegee. The pair also performed the song live at the 2012 ACM concert, Lionel Richie and Friends.{{cite web |title=Kenny Rogers's 'Lady' and Other Lionel Richie Collaborations Remembered After His Death |url=https://popculture.com/country-music/2020/03/22/kenny-rogers-lionel-richie-lady-collaborations-remembered-after-death/ |website=Popculture.com |date=March 22, 2020 |access-date=March 23, 2020}}

On April 10, 2013, the CMA announced that Rogers would be a 2013 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame, along with Cowboy Jack Clement and Bobby Bare. In June 2013, he performed at the Glastonbury Festival in England in the Sunday afternoon 'Legends' slot.{{cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jun/27/30-minutes-with-kenny-rogers|title= Kenny Rogers: 'I figured, someone asked for me, so here I come'|date=June 27, 2013|newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=June 27, 2013 }}

In 2013, Rogers recorded a new album with the name You Can't Make Old Friends. This album included the title track, a new duet with Dolly Parton, which was his first single released in six years.

Rogers recorded 65 albums and sold over 165 million records.{{cite news|last=Malachowski|first=David|url=http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Kenny-Rogers-plays-Christmas-music-and-his-own-868545.php|title=Kenny Rogers plays Christmas music and his own hits|newspaper=Times Union|date=December 9, 2010|access-date=July 21, 2011}}{{cite web|first=Iain|last=Shedden|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/countrys-singalong-king-kenny-rogers-swings-in/story-e6frg8n6-1225978936492|title=Country's singalong king Kenny Rogers swings in|newspaper=The Australian|date=December 31, 2010|access-date=July 21, 2011}}

File:KenRogersPall101116-9 (49690040016).jpg

In 2015, Rogers announced his farewell tour, titled The Gambler's Last Deal. He stated his intention to retire from touring at its completion, although he was considering the possibility of recording another studio album.{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailytimes.com/entertainment/country-superstar-kenny-rogers-goes-all-in-for-one-last/article_29355e1a-1426-5192-bf2c-ae3c69afb120.html |title=Country superstar Kenny Rogers goes all in for one last concert tour |author=Wildsmith, Steve |date=March 1, 2017 |access-date=March 19, 2017 |newspaper=The Daily Times}} In announcing the tour, Rogers indicated at the time that his final tour appearance would be on NBC's Today show.{{cite web |url=http://www.today.com/series/best-thing-today/kenny-rogers-reveals-plan-retire-after-next-tour-ive-done-t46326 |title=Kenny Rogers reveals plan to retire after next tour: 'I've done this long enough' |author=Hines, Ree |date=September 25, 2015 |access-date=March 19, 2017 |work=Today}} Concert dates were scheduled through 2018 and included visits to the United States, Australia, Scotland, Ireland, England, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.{{cite web |url=http://www.kennyrogers.com/tour |title=Tour |access-date=March 19, 2017 |work=KennyRogers.com}} On April 5, 2018, though, Rogers canceled his remaining tour as advised by doctors due to a series of health problems.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-43653358|title=Kenny Rogers cancels tour over health|last=Savage|first=Mark|date=April 5, 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=April 6, 2018}}

Rogers's final concert in Nashville took place on October 25, 2017, at the Bridgestone Arena, where he was joined by an array of guest artists, including Linda Davis, Elle King, Little Big Town, Lionel Richie, Billy Currington, Lee Greenwood, The Flaming Lips, The Oak Ridge Boys, Justin Moore, Travis Tritt, the Judds, Kris Kristofferson, Alison Krauss, Chris Stapleton, Lady Antebellum, Idina Menzel, Crystal Gayle, Reba McEntire, and Jamey Johnson. The concert also included a special appearance by long-time friend Dolly Parton, who serenaded Rogers with her signature "I Will Always Love You" and performed "You Can't Make Old Friends" and "Islands in the Stream" with Rogers for the final time.{{cite web |first=Cindy |last=Watts |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2017/10/26/kenny-rogers-dolly-parton-drop-mic-his-final-performance/801935001/ |title=Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton drop the mic on his final performance |work=USA Today |date=October 26, 2017 |access-date=December 5, 2017}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/country/news/chris-stapleton-added-to-kenny-rogers-tribute-concert-w496792|title=Chris Stapleton, Judds Reunion Added to Kenny Rogers Tribute Concert|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=August 9, 2017}}

Although Rogers used many session musicians to play instruments on his recordings, he was backed on tours by the group Bloodline since 1976. The group originally started as three pieces.{{cite web|first1=Bill |last1=DeYoung |title=[Article 60] The rise and fall of Kenny Rogers|url=http://www.billdeyoung.com/archives/the-rise-and-fall-of-kenny-rogers/|website=Bill DeYoung.com|access-date=May 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215225216/http://www.billdeyoung.com/archives/the-rise-and-fall-of-kenny-rogers/|archive-date=February 15, 2016|date=May 27, 2014|url-status=dead |quote=Few artists of the past 30 years have enjoyed the across–the–board recognizability of Kenny Rogers. His celebrity landed him on more television shows and magazine covers than any other singer of his day, and for a long time, you couldn't punch a radio button without hearing his teddy–bear baritone. If he wasn't singing on TV, he was hosting an awards show or schmoozing with some other superstar.}} In The Journey (a 2006 documentary about his career), Rogers said he did not understand singers who changed their touring band every year, and that he stuck with Bloodline as they already "know the songs". Members of Bloodline have included Steve Glassmeyer, Chuck Jacobs, Randy Dorman, Gene Golden, Bobby Daniels, Rick Harper, Edgar Struble, Lynn Hammann, Warren Hartman, Gene Sisk, Brian Franklin, Mike Zimmerman, and Amber Randall.{{cite web |last1=Glassmeyer |first1=Matt |title=In Praise of Bloodline, Kenny Rogers's Band Since 1976 |url=https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/features/article/20986423/in-praise-of-bloodline-kenny-rogers-band-since-1976 |work=Nashville Scene|date=December 21, 2017 |access-date=November 13, 2019}}

Rogers also had success as an actor. His 1982 movie Six Pack, in which he played a race-car driver, took in more than $20 million at the United States box office, while made-for-TV movies such as The Gambler series, Christmas in America, and Coward of the County (based on hit songs of his) topped ratings lists. He also served as host and narrator for the A&E historical series The Real West.{{cite web |url=https://www.historynet.com/wild-west-review-real-west.htm |title=Wild West Review: The Real West |first=Steve |last=Mauro |work=Wild West Magazine |date=June 1, 2008 |access-date=April 2, 2020}}{{cite web |first=Richard |last=Huff |title=A&E saddles up western series |url=https://variety.com/1993/tv/news/a-e-saddles-up-western-series-104266/ |publisher=Variety |date=February 19, 1993 |access-date=February 19, 2014}}

Rogers said that photography was once his obsession, before it morphed into a passion. He authored the photo books Kenny Rogers' America (1986) and Your Friends and Mine (1987).{{cite news |first=Mario |last=Tarradell |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/mario-tarradell/20100716-kenny-rogers-is-enthusiastic-about-his-50th-anniversary-special.ece |title=Kenny Rogers is enthusiastic about his 50th anniversary special |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |date=July 16, 2010}}

File:02514jfKenny Rogers Roasters restaurants in Bulacanfvf 29.jpg]]

As an entrepreneur, he collaborated with former Kentucky Fried Chicken CEO John Y. Brown Jr. in 1991 to start up the restaurant chain Kenny Rogers Roasters. The chicken and ribs chain, which is similar to Boston Market, featured in an episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld called "The Chicken Roaster". Season four of the TV series Fresh Off the Boat depicts the chain as owning a share of Louis Huang's Cattleman's Ranch restaurant and then filing for bankruptcy. Rogers is shown from the back, but played by Jeff Pomerantz in the episode "Let Me Go, Bro".{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20180212abc03/|website=The Futon Critic|title=Let Me Go, Bro|location=United States|date=February 27, 2018|access-date=March 21, 2020}}

Rogers put his name to the Gambler Chassis Co., a sprint-car racing manufacturer started by C. K. Spurlock in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The company used the name from Rogers's hit song "The Gambler". During the 1980s and 1990s, Gambler was one of the fastest and widely used sprint cars, with such drivers as Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, and Doug Wolfgang driving the cars to victory in the World of Outlaws and the famous Knoxville Nationals. Gambler sprint cars were also successful in Australia, with drivers such as Garry Rush and Steve Brazier using Gamblers to win multiple Australian Sprintcar Championships. Rush also used a Gambler chassis to win the unofficial 1987 World Sprintcar Championship at the Claremont Speedway in Perth, Western Australia.

In October 2012, Rogers released the book Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir about the ups and downs in his musical career.{{cite news|last=Ross|first=Joe|title=Book Review: Luck or Something Like It by Kenny Rogers|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Book-Review-Luck-or-Something-Like-It-by-Kenny-3897706.php|newspaper=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|date=September 26, 2012}}

In 2014, Rogers appeared as himself in a GEICO commercial, singing part of his song "The Gambler" a cappella while acting as the dealer in a card game.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXl8oHlA5LM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/JXl8oHlA5LM| archive-date=December 12, 2021 |url-status=live|title=GEICO – Did you know playing cards with Kenny Rogers gets old pretty fast? (2014) |date=February 22, 2015 |publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

At Beaver Dam Farms, a former estate in Colbert, Georgia, Rogers kept a pet goat named Smitty.{{cite news |url= https://bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/05/26/kenny-rogers-former-athens-estate-to-be-auctioned.html|title= Kenny Rogers's Former Athens Estate to be Auctioned|first=Phil W.|last= Hudson|publisher=American City Business Journals|location=Charlotte, North Carolina|date=May 26, 2016|access-date=March 27, 2020}} He originally acquired the animal from a friend in 2008. According to Rogers, the goat was "(his) center", providing a calming influence after long and stressful touring schedules.{{cite book |title=Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir |url=https://archive.org/details/luckorsomethingl0000roge |url-access=registration |last=Rogers |first=Kenny |year=2012 |location= New York City|publisher=William Morrow Paperbacks |isbn=978-0-0620-7161-3 }}

Rogers was married five times and had five children. His first marriage was to Janice Gordon on May 15, 1958; they divorced in April 1960 with one child, Carole Lynne.{{cite web |url= http://www.contactmusic.com/kenny-rogers/news/kenny-rogers-is-estranged-from-first-child_3312542 |title=Kenny Rogers Is Estranged From First Child |date=October 6, 2012 |access-date=April 7, 2017 |work=contactmusic.com}} He married his second wife, Jean, in October 1960 and divorced her in 1963. His third marriage was to Margo Anderson in October 1963; they divorced in 1975, with one child.{{cite news |url=http://pilotonline.com/entertainment/music/kenny-rogers-says-farewell-to-the-road/article_541300b2-4f2a-57e2-ac6e-9e49237de91a.html |title=Kenny Rogers says farewell to the road |author=Ollison, Rashod |date=December 5, 2016 |access-date=April 7, 2017 |work=The Virginian-Pilot |archive-date=April 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409021323/http://pilotonline.com/entertainment/music/kenny-rogers-says-farewell-to-the-road/article_541300b2-4f2a-57e2-ac6e-9e49237de91a.html |url-status=dead }} He married his fourth wife, actress Marianne Gordon, on October 1, 1977, and they divorced in 1993, with one son, Christopher. His fifth marriage was to Wanda Miller on June 1, 1997. They had twin sons and were married for 22 years until his death.{{cite web |url= https://countryfancast.com/kenny-rogers-wife-wanda-miller-rogers/ | title= Meet Kenny Rogers's Wife, Wanda Miller | website=Countryfancast.com| date= August 25, 2022 }}

Rogers's seven-decade career wound down in 2017, as he encountered health problems that included a diagnosis of bladder cancer.{{cite news|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/kenny-rogers-pop-country-singer-of-the-gambler-who-dominated-1970s-music-charts-dies-at-81/|title=Kenny Rogers, pop-country singer of 'The Gambler' who dominated 1970s music charts, dies at 81|date=March 21, 2020|newspaper=The Seattle Times|access-date=August 9, 2021}} On March 20, 2020, Rogers died at the age of 81, while under hospice care at his home in Sandy Springs, Georgia.{{cite news| url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/actor-singer-gambler-kenny-rogers-dies-81-69724237|title=Actor, singer, 'The Gambler': Kenny Rogers dies at 81|first=Kristin M.|last=Hall|agency=Associated Press|work=ABC News|publisher=ABC|location=New York City|date=March 21, 2020| access-date=March 21, 2020|url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321070158/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/actor-singer-gambler-kenny-rogers-dies-81-69724237| archive-date=March 21, 2020}}{{cite news| url= https://wuft.org/nation-world/2020/03/21/country-music-legend-kenny-rogers-dies-at-81| title= Country Music Legend Kenny Rogers Dies at 81| first= Blake| last= Farmer| publisher= WUFT| location= Gainesville, Florida| date= March 21, 2020| access-date= March 21, 2020| archive-date= January 25, 2021| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210125200317/https://www.wuft.org/nation-world/2020/03/21/country-music-legend-kenny-rogers-dies-at-81/| url-status= dead}} He was interred in Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta.{{cite web |url=https://www.11alive.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/the-a-scene/kenny-rogers-will-be-buried-at-oakland-cemetery-more-than-a-year-after-his-death/85-55e63ed0-2024-4481-9f19-68a9bebb4386 |title=Country legend Kenny Rogers will be buried at Oakland Cemetery more than a year after his death |date=July 27, 2021 |access-date=August 8, 2021 |work=WXIA-TV}}

{{Main|Kenny Rogers discography}}

{{div col}}

• Love Lifted Me (1976)
• Kenny Rogers (1976)
• Daytime Friends (1977)
• Every Time Two Fools Collide {{small|(with Dottie West)}} (1978)
• Love or Something Like It (1978)
• The Gambler (1978)
• Classics {{small|(with Dottie West)}} (1979)
• Kenny (1979)
• Gideon (1980)
• Share Your Love (1981)
• Christmas (1981)
• Love Will Turn You Around (1982)
• We've Got Tonight (1983)
• Eyes That See in the Dark (1983)
• What About Me? (1984)
• Once Upon a Christmas {{small|(with Dolly Parton)}} (1984)
• The Heart of the Matter (1985)
• They Don't Make Them Like They Used To (1986)
• I Prefer the Moonlight (1987)
• Something Inside So Strong (1989)
• Christmas in America (1989)
• Love Is Strange (1990)
• Back Home Again (1991)
• If Only My Heart Had a Voice (1993)
• Timepiece {{small|(with David Foster)}} (1994)
• Vote for Love (1996)
• The Gift (1996)
• Across My Heart (1997)
• Christmas from the Heart (1998)
• She Rides Wild Horses (1999)
• There You Go Again (2000)
• Back to the Well (2003)
• Water & Bridges (2006)
• The Love of God (2011)
• You Can't Make Old Friends (2013)
• Once Again It's Christmas (2015)
• Life Is Like a Song (2023)

{{div col end}}

{{More citations needed section|date=March 2020}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2020}}

The following is a list of record labels to which Rogers signed:

• Cue (1957, with the band the Scholars and also as a solo singer)
• Carlton (1958, solo deal)
• KenLee (one single, label owned by Rogers and his brother Lelan)
• Columbia (1960s, with jazz combo, the Bobby Doyle Three)
• Reprise (1967, with the First Edition, all material recorded during this time has since been acquired by Universal Music Group)
• Jolly Rogers (1973, with the First Edition, label was owned by Rogers)
• United Artists (1975, solo deal)
• Liberty (1980, United Artists merged into EMI/Capitol in 1980; some pressings of albums were issued on Capitol's imprint labels, EMI, EMI America, and EMI Manhattan.)
• RCA Records (1983, solo deal)
• Reprise (1989, solo deal)
• Giant (1993, one solo album)
• Atlantic (1994, one solo album)
• onQ Music (1996, one solo album; onQ Music was created by the QVC Network to release exclusive albums for sale only on QVC. The first onQ release was Rogers's Vote for Love, a two-disc set that would later become available in standard retail stores.)
• Magnatone (1996, solo deal)
• Dreamcatcher (1998, solo deal; Dreamcatcher was owned and run by Rogers and Jim Mazza for the purpose of releasing Rogers's albums and certain reissues of Rogers's catalog. Other artists, such as Marshall Dyllon and Randy Dorman, were also released on Dreamcatcher Records. The label closed in 2004.)
• Capitol Nashville (2004, solo deal)

• Brady Hawkes

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Commons category|Kenny Rogers}}

• [http://kennyrogers.com/ Official website]
• {{IMDb name|0737006}}
• {{Discogs artist|Kenny Rogers}}
• {{Discogs artist|The Scholars}} Entry for "The Scholars".

{{Kenny Rogers}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Kenny Rogers

|list =

{{Academy of Country Music Award for Entertainer of the Year}}

{{American Music Award for Favorite Country Male Artist}}

{{American Music Award for Favorite Country Song}}

{{American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist}}

{{American Music Award of Merit}}

{{CMA Album of the Year}}

{{CMA Male Vocalist of the Year}}

{{CMA Duo of the Year}}

{{CMA Lifetime Achievement}}

{{2010s Country Music Hall of Fame}}

}}

{{Kenny Rogers and The First Edition}}

{{Portal bar|United States|Texas|Music|Film|Television}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Kenny}}

Category:Kenny Rogers and The First Edition members

Category:1938 births

Category:2020 deaths

Category:20th-century American bass guitarists

Category:20th-century American male musicians

Category:American baritones

Category:American Christians

Category:American country bass guitarists

Category:American country fiddlers

Category:American country guitarists

Category:American country harmonica players

Category:American country singer-songwriters

Category:American male bass guitarists

Category:American male singer-songwriters

Category:American people of Irish descent

Category:Atlantic Records artists

Category:Capitol Records artists

Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees

Category:Country musicians from Texas

Category:Country pop musicians

Category:Giant Records (Warner) artists

Category:Grammy Award winners

Category:Guitarists from Texas

Category:Native American singers

Category:The New Christy Minstrels members

Category:Northside High School (Houston) alumni

Category:RCA Records Nashville artists

Category:Sanctuary Records artists

Category:Singer-songwriters from Texas

Category:Singers from Houston

Category:United Artists Records artists

Category:University of Houston alumni