Country singer Kenny Rogers dies aged 81
>>WASHINGTON: Grammy-winning country singer Kenny Rogers died late on Friday night at the age of 81, his family said yesterday.
The American singer “passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family,” a statement on the singer’s website said.
“The family is planning a small private service at this time out of concern for the national Covid19 emergency.”
Rogers, a three-time Grammy winner and a Country Music Hall of Famer, was best known for songs like The Gambler and his 1983 duet with Dolly Parton Islands in the Stream.
>>WASHINGTON: Country music legend Kenny Rogers, whose career spanned six decades, has died at the age of 81, his family said late on Friday.
“Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family,” they said in a statement.
The family said they were planning a small private service “out of concern for the national Covid-19 emergency.”
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,” said the statement posted by his representative Keith Hagan.
A three-time Grammy winner who sold tens of millions of records, Rogers was known for a string of hits including The Gambler, Lucille and Islands in the Stream.
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 in 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 and collaborator Dolly Parton for a last performance of Islands in the Stream.
In April 2018 Rogers scrapped the final dates of his farewell tour due to health concerns.
“I didn’t want to take forever to retire,” the singer said.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to say farewell to fans over the course of the past two years,” he said, adding that he could “never properly thank them for the encouragement and support they’ve given me throughout my career.”
Born in Houston, Texas, Rogers started his career in the late 1950s and quickly became active in rockabilly, jazz and other genres that he brought into his country style.
He went on to have 24 number one hits, was a six-time Country Music Association Awards winner and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.