KENNY ROGERS
THE MUSIC world was last night mourning country singer Kenny Rogers, who died aged 81 from natural causes at home in America.
His widow Wanda, 52, said The Gambler singer will be laid to rest at a small, private funeral this week, with a public memorial planned for when the coronavirus pandemic ends.
Kenny, also known for the songs Lady, Lucille, Coward Of The County and his duets with fellow country star Dolly Parton, sold more than 100 million records, winning three Grammy Awards in a career spanning 60 years.
Dolly, 74, who had a massive hit with Kenny in 1983 with the Bee Gees’ song Islands In The Stream, was said to be “overwhelmed by grief”.
She wrote on Twitter: “You never know how much you love somebody until they’re gone. I’ve had so many wonderful years and wonderful times with my friend Kenny, but above all the music and the success I loved him as a wonderful man and a true friend.’’
Kenny once summed up his enormous popularity by saying he believed his songs “say what every man wants to say and what every woman wants to hear”.
Kenny, a five-times-married father-of-five, also became a Hollywood star in the 1980s and 90s when he appeared in a string of made-for-tv movies based on his 1978 hit The Gambler.
The song was unexpectedly back in the limelight in 2007 in the UK when it became the unofficial anthem of England’sworld Cup rugby team.
It was so popular that Rogers played it twice during his “legends” slot at Glastonbury in 2013.
He said of the hit: “I’ve always felt great songs put you in a spot, put you in a place – on a warm summer’s evening, on a train bound for nowhere.”
Kenny also achieved huge commercial success after he and a former CEO of Kentucky Fried Chicken formed the restaurant chain Kenny Rogers Roasters in 1991, which has 156 locations today, mainly in Asia. Yesterday scores of celebrities around the world paid tribute to the icon, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
Singer Richard Marx said: “He did so much for me as a young songwriter and we stayed friends for over 30 years.” Rapper MC Hammer wrote: “True all-time Great. Impeccable delivery and warmth in his songs. ‘The Gambler.’ R.I.P.”
The Country Music Association said: “He has forever left his mark on country music history. His family and friends are in our thoughts.”
Kenny was born in poverty in 1938 on a federal housing estate in Texas with seven siblings.
He took to the guitar “like a fish to water” in his teens, forming a rockabilly group called The Scholars that was so good it won a record deal.
After moving to Los Angeles in 1966, where he played briefly with folk-pop band New Christy Minstrels, he formed his own rock-leaning group The First Edition, with whom he scored several hits before signing a solo deal in 1976.
He struck immediate gold with Lucille and notched up five more No1 singles – including The Gambler – by the end of the decade.
He teamed up with Dolly, and they performed together regularly until 2017, when Kenny quit the road following a tribute concert in Nashville where he and Dolly were joined by Lionel Richie. He also toured Britain in 1996 with Tammy Wynette and Glen Campbell.
Kenny’s death at his home in Sandy Springs, Georgia, late on Friday night was announced in a family statement yesterday that said: “We are sad to announce that Kenny Rogers passed away last night at 10.25pm at the age of 81. He passed away peacefully at home from natural causes.”
He is survived bywanda, their identical 14-yearold twin sons Jordan and Justin, and Kenny’s three children from his previous marriages: Carole, 60, Kenny Jr, 55, and Christopher, 37.