‘The Gambler’ folds ’em and walks away
Actor-singer Kenny Rogers, the smooth, Grammy-winning balladeer who spanned jazz, folk, country and pop with such hits as Lucille, Lady and Islands in the Stream and embraced his persona as ‘‘The Gambler’’ on record and on TV, died last night.
The 81-year-old had been in hospice care and died of natural causes at his home in Sandy Springs, Georgia.
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 The Gambler and other songs, making him a superstar in the ’70s and ’80s. He was 60 years in the spotlight before retiring from touring in 2017.
A true rags-to-riches story, Rogers was raised in public housing in Houston Heights with seven siblings. As a 20-year-old, he had a gold single called That Crazy Feeling,
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, Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).
After the group broke up in 1974, Rogers started his solo career and found a big hit with the sad country ballad Lucille, in 1977. Suddenly the star, Rogers added hit after hit for more than a decade.
The Gambler came out in 1978 and became his signature song with a signature refrain: ‘‘You gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.’’ The song spawned a hit TV movie of the same name featuring Rogers as professional gambler Brady Hawkes.
Other hits included You Decorated My Life, and Coward of the County.
Over the years, Rogers worked often with female duet partners, most memorably, Dolly Parton. The two were paired at the suggestion of the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb, who wrote Islands in the Stream.
‘‘Barry was producing an album on me and he gave me this song,’’ Rogers said in 2017. ‘‘And I went and learned it and went into the studio and sang it for four days. And I finally looked at him and said, ‘Barry, I don’t even like this song anymore.’ And he said, ‘You know what we need? We need Dolly Parton.’ I thought, ‘Man, that guy is a visionary’.’’
Coincidentally, Parton was actually in the same recording studio in Los Angeles when the idea came up.
‘‘From the moment she marched into that room, that song never sounded the same,’’ Rogers said.
The two singers toured together, including to New Zealand in 1984 and 1987.
Rogers was also a keen photographer, had a chain of restaurants and supported numerous charitable causes.
He is survived by his wife, Wanda, and his four sons. His family were planning a private service out of concern for the Covid-19 situation. A public memorial will be held at a later date.