Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton backstage at Bridgestone Arena in 2017
Sad news comes to us from Sandy Springs, Ga.: Kenny Rogers, a legendary singer who blended country and pop like no other, died Friday night of natural causes. He'd been under hospice care at his home. He was 81.
The Houston, Texas, native's musical career began in the late 1950s, but took off in a big way a decade later. Rogers and some of his fellow ex-members of folk-pop outfit The New Christy Minstrels started The First Edition in 1967. Their multifaceted rock sound, influenced by R&B, folk and more and driven by outstanding songwriting, built a foundation for Rogers' warm, rich voice on chart-topping hits like “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” and “Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town.”
"I've never felt I was a particularly good singer," Rogers told Jewly Hight in a 2014 interview for the Scene, "but I've always felt if you give me a song that touches me, I can make it touch somebody else. And that's kinda the way I've approached my career."
Notably, “Just Dropped In” was written by Mickey Newbury, and “Ruby” by Mel Tillis, two iconic country songwriters. Country made a major impression on Rogers. In the late ’70s, working out of Nashville with a road band called Bloodline who would continue to back him up until he retired from touring in 2018, Rogers became a country star.
His pop-savvy approach to hits like “Lucille,” “Lady” and his signature tune “The Gambler” helped him to become one of the first country artists to sell out arenas, and he helped shape the sound of the genre in ways that are still felt today. More than 20 of his singles went to No. 1 on Billboard's country charts, and plenty — like “Islands In the Stream,” his 1983 duet with Dolly Parton — topped various Billboard pop charts as well.
Rogers' retirement followed a massive farewell concert in October 2017, called All In for the Gambler, at Bridgestone Arena. The parade of guest performers ran the gamut from those Rogers inspired, like Chris Stapleton and Elle King, to longtime friends and collaborators like Lionel Richie and Parton. Parton emphasized the closeness of their friendship, saying, “I’d be so heartbroken if something ever happened to you, so I have to go first.”
Rogers' family plans a small, private ceremony in the days to come. Once the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, arrangements for a public celebration of life will be announced.
