Music with Eddie Rowley

AMERICAN country superstar Kenny Rogers is retiring from show business to spend more time with his wife and twin boys… at the age of 78!

Rogers, famous for hits like ‘Lucille’, ‘Coward Of The County’ and ‘The Gambler’, will play two concerts in Ireland next month on his Gambler’s Last Deal farewell tour.

“I don’t know how many more years I have left, so I wanted to make sure to do a farewell tour and go to some of the places that have been particularly good to me in the past,” Rogers says of his decision to bring the curtain down on his incredible career that includes 120 hit singles across many musical genres.

The iconic performer has six children from four of his five marriages, including 12-year-old identical twin sons with his current wife, Wanda, whom he married in 1991.

“I want to spend quality time with them,” says Rogers. “I have two older boys that I missed that quality time with. They’re good kids, their mothers did a great job raising them.

“But I’m excited about having the time with the twins. I think they’re at a great age and they just say things, and they do things. You have to be able to enjoy them. I’m determined to be there for them.”

Looking back on his life in his autobiography, Rogers admitted he didn’t always get his priorities right. “I wrote in the book that there’s a fine line between being selfish and being driven,” he says.

“I think when I was young, I was selfish. I was concerned about me. I lost two wives because of that and I didn’t get to spend time with my older boys... and I regret that.”

Kenny Rogers will play Dublin’s 3Arena on Monday, November 7 and Belfast’s SSE Arena on Tuesday, November 8.