GOODBYE, ‘GAMBLER’
Kenny Rogers, country and pop music legend, dead at 81
Kenny Rogers, the huskyvoiced, gray-bearded, country and pop singer whose extraordinary career spanned over six decades, has died at the age of 81.
The death was announced early Saturday morning on the entertainer’s Twitter page.
“The Rogers family is sad to announce that Kenny Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family,” read the tweet.
During his prestigious career, Rogers produced 39 studio albums that sold more than 100 million units, including smash hits such as “Lucille,” “The Gambler” and “Lady.”
Rogers claimed his attendance at a Ray Charles concert at the age of 12 served as the impetus for his career in music.
“It was like an epiphany.
People laughed at everything Ray said,” said Rogers. “They clapped for everything he sang. I thought, ‘Boy, who wouldn’t want to do that?’ I didn’t know I could even sing at the time. I just loved the honesty of his music.”
After a six-year stint with the New Christy Minstrels, Rogers and several of his bandmates formed the rock group The First Edition. Its two biggest hits were 1968’s “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” and “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” the following year.
In 1975, with the popularity of The First Edition waning, Rogers embarked on a solo career.
From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, the Houstonborn musician recorded a slew of iconic songs, including “Lucille,” “You Decorated My Life” and “She Believes in Me.”
In a mere six-year span, Rogers racked up nine Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles, including two chart-toppers — the haunting 1980 ballad “Lady” and the 1983 Dolly Parton duet “Islands in the Stream.”
The legendary pairing prompted rumors that the two were an offstage item.
“Everybody always thought we were having an affair,” Rogers told HuffPost Live in 2013. “We didn’t. We just teased each other and flirted with each other for 30 years. It keeps a lot of tension there.”
Even today, “Islands in the Stream” — written by Bee Gees Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb — remains a popular cultural touchstone. It is heard at the beginning of the “Watchmen” episode “If You Don’t Like My Story, Write Your Own.”
His 1979 single “Coward of the County,” about a man defending the honor of a rape victim, was a surprise No. 1 hit in the United Kingdom.
Rogers scored another hit duet in 1983 with Sheena Easton in “We’ve Got Tonight.” The somber tale of star-crossed lovers peaked at No. 6 on the Hot 100 and became his 11th of 21 No. 1 country chart-toppers.
“I loved Kenny with all my heart, and my heart’s broken and a big old chunk of it’s gone with him,” Parton said Saturday in a video she posted to Twitter.
Two years after his 1978 tune “The Gambler” became a hit, he starred in a madefor-TV film adaptation of the song, playing 19th century protagonist Brady Hawkes. The film was a surprise Nielsen hit, reportedly becoming the highest-rated TV film since 1978, according to “Country Music: The Encyclopedia.”
“The Gambler” received two Emmy nominations and spawned four sequels; the last one — “The Gambler V: Playing for Keeps” — aired in 1994.
He also starred in the 1982 comedy “Six Pack,” playing a racecar driver who bonds with thieving orphans. The film, which co-starred Diane Lane and Erin Gray, was a modest box-office success.
Rogers performed as part of the star-studded ensemble USA for Africa, which recorded the 1985 No. 1 smash “We Are the World.” The following year, he cochaired the fund-raiser for Hands Across America.
The country crooner was loved by people around the globe.
“I pause to acknowledge the passing of one of the greatest singer & performer of our time, Kenny Rogers,” Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness tweeted Saturday. “Like many Jamaicans, I grew up listening to his ‘story telling to music’ country and western hits in the 70s and 80s. My favorite was ‘The Coward of the County’ and “Gambler.’ ”
Rogers, who married five times, is survived by his wife of 22 years, Wanda Miller, and five children.