Kenneth Donald Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American country music singer-songwriter. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences, but also charted more than 120 hit singles across various genres, topping the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual weeks in the United States alone. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide during his lifetime, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His fame and career spanned multiple genres—jazz, folk, pop, rock, and country. He remade his career and was one of the most successful cross-over artists of all time. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
In the late 1950s, Rogers began his recording career with the Houston-based group the Scholars, who first released "The Poor Little Doggie". After some solo releases, including 1958's "That Crazy Feeling", Rogers then joined a group with jazz singer Bobby Doyle. In 1966, he became a member of the folk ensemble the New Christy Minstrels, playing double bass and bass guitar, as well as singing. In 1967, several members of the New Christy Minstrels and he left to found the group the First Edition, with whom he scored his first major hit, "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)", a psychedelic rock song, which peaked at number five on the Billboard charts. As Rogers took an increased leadership role in the First Edition following the success of 1969's "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town", the band gradually changed styles to a more country feel. The band broke up in 1975–76, and Rogers embarked on a long and successful solo career, which included several successful collaborations, including duets with singers Dottie West, Dolly Parton, and Sheena Easton, and a songwriting partnership with Lionel Richie. His signature song, 1978's "The Gambler", was a crossover hit that won him a Grammy Award in 1980, and was selected in 2018 for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. He developed the Gambler persona into a character for a successful series of television films starting with 1980's Emmy-nominated Kenny Rogers as The Gambler.
Rogers's albums The Gambler and Kenny were featured in the About.com poll of "The 200 Most Influential Country Albums Ever". He was voted the "Favorite Singer of All Time" in a 1986 poll by readers of both USA Today and People. He received numerous awards, such as the American Music, Grammy, Academy of Country Music, and Country Music Association awards, as well as a lifetime achievement award for a career spanning six decades in 2003. His later successes included the 2006 album release Water & Bridges, an across-the-board hit that entered the top five in the Billboard Country Albums sales charts, also charting in the top 15 of the Billboard 200. The first single from the album, "I Can't Unlove You", was also a sizable chart hit. Remaining a popular entertainer around the world, he continued to tour regularly until his retirement in 2017.
Rogers had acting roles in movies and television shows, including the title roles in Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, the MacShayne series for The NBC Mystery Movie, and the 1982 feature film Six Pack. He was a co-founder of the restaurant chain Kenny Rogers Roasters in collaboration with former KFC CEO John Y. Brown Jr. Although the stores closed in the United States, they are still a fixture in Asia.
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Early life
Kenneth Donald Ray Rogers was born the fourth of eight children on August 21, 1938, at St Joseph's Infirmary in Houston, Texas. His parents were Lucille Lois Rogers, a nurse's assistant, and Edward Floyd Rogers, a carpenter. The family lived in the San Felipe Courts public housing project. Rogers was said to be of Irish and Native American ancestry. Rogers attended Wharton Elementary School, George Washington Junior High School, and graduated from Jefferson Davis High School (now Northside High School) in 1956.
In 1949, Rogers won a talent show at the Texan Theatre. He served as a busboy at the Rice Hotel and swept floors at a hat store for $9 a week. He later attended the University of Houston.
In 1986, on The Phil Donahue Show, Rogers told the audience that he was the first person in his family "as far back as we know" to graduate from high school. We were broke. We lived in a federal housing project. I think the most money my father ever made was $75 a week. There were times as a child that, I don't think I was ever really hungry – I always had food to eat – but there's no question that our family was nutritionally deprived at times. We'd eat peanut butter sandwiches, 'cause that's all there was. Quite honestly, when you're a kid, you don't know any better, you think that's how everyone eats.
Career
Early career
In a recording career dating back to the 1950s, Rogers moved from teenager rock and roll through psychedelic rock to become a country-pop crossover artist of the 1970s and 1980s. He had a minor solo hit in 1957 called "That Crazy Feeling". After sales slowed down, Rogers joined a jazz group called the Bobby Doyle Three, who were frequently hired by clubs due to their fan following. The group recorded for Columbia Records. They disbanded in 1965, and a 1966 jazzy rock single Rogers recorded for Mercury Records, called "Here's That Rainy Day", failed. Rogers also worked as a producer, writer, and session musician for other performers, including country artists Mickey Gilley and Eddy Arnold. In 1966, he joined the New Christy Minstrels as a singer and double bass player.
Feeling that the Minstrels were not offering the success they wanted, Rogers and fellow members Mike Settle, Terry Williams, and Thelma Camacho left the group. They formed the First Edition in 1967 (later renamed "Kenny Rogers and the First Edition"). They were later joined by Kin Vassy. They chalked up a string of hits on both the pop and country charts, including "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" (Rogers doing lead vocals and bass), "But You Know I Love You", "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town", "Tell It All, Brother", "Reuben James", and "Something's Burning".
When the First Edition disbanded in 1976, Rogers launched his solo career. He soon developed a more middle-of-the-road sound that sold to both pop and country audiences. He charted more than 60 top-40 hit singles (including two number ones—"Lady" and "Islands in the Stream"). His music has been featured in top-selling movie soundtracks, such as Convoy, Urban Cowboy, and The Big Lebowski.
Solo career and duets with other artists
As the First Edition was breaking up in 1975, Rogers was the face of a national commercial advertising the "Quick Pickin' Fun Strummin' Home Guitar Course", but in 1976, Rogers signed a solo deal with United Artists. Producer Larry Butler and Rogers began a partnership that would last four years.
Rogers's first outing for his new label was Love Lifted Me. The album charted and two singles, "Love Lifted Me" and "While the Feeling's Good", were minor hits. The song "Runaway Girl" was featured in the film Trackdown (1976). Later in 1976, Rogers issued his second album, the self-titled Kenny Rogers, whose first single, "Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)", was another solo hit.
The single "Lucille" (1977) was a major hit, reaching number one on the pop charts in 12 countries, selling over five million copies, and firmly establishing Rogers's post-First Edition career. On the strength of "Lucille", the album Kenny Rogers reached number one on the Billboard Country Album Chart. More success was to follow, including the multiplatinum-selling album The Gambler and another international number one single, "Coward of the County", taken from the equally successful album, Kenny. In 1980, the Rogers/Butler partnership came to an end, though they occasionally reunited, in 1987 on the album I Prefer the Moonlight and again in 1993 on the album If Only My Heart Had a Voice.
In the late 1970s, Rogers teamed up with close friend Dottie West for a series of albums and duets. Together, the duo won two gold records (one of which later went platinum), two CMA Awards, an ACM nomination, two Grammy nominations, and one Music City News award for their two hit albums Every Time Two Fools Collide (number one) and Classics (number three), selling out stadiums and arenas while on tour for several years, as well as appearing on several network television specials, which showcased them. Their hits together, "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (number one), "Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight" (number two), "What Are We Doin' in Love" (number one), "All I Ever Need Is You" (number one), and "Till I Can Make It On My Own" (number three), all became country standards. Of West, Rogers stated in a 1995 TNN interview: "She, more than anybody else I ever worked with, sang with such emotion that you actually believed what she sang. A lot of people sing words, Dottie West sang emotions." In a 1978 press release for their album Every Time Two Fools Collide, Rogers credited West with further establishing and cementing his career with country music audiences. In the same release, West credited him with taking her career to new audiences. Rogers was with West only hours before she died at age 58 after sustaining injuries in a 1991 car accident, as discussed in his 2012 biography Luck or Something Like It. In 1995, he starred as himself, alongside Michele Lee as West, in the CBS biographical film Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story.
2000–2015
In 2000 (and at age 61), Rogers was back at number one for the first time in more than a decade with the single "Buy Me a Rose". In doing so, he broke a 26-year-old record held by Hank Snow (who, in April 1974, was 59 when he scored with "Hello Love"). Rogers held the record until 2003, when then-70-year-old Willie Nelson became the oldest artist to have a number one on the country charts with his duet with Toby Keith, "Beer for My Horses".
Although Rogers did not record new albums for a few years, he continued to have success in many countries with more greatest hits packages. In 2004's 42 Ultimate Hits, which was the first hits collection to span his days with the First Edition to the present, reached number six on the American country charts and went gold. It also featured two new songs, "My World Is Over" with Whitney Duncan and "We Are the Same". The former was released as a single and was a minor hit. In 2005, The Very Best of Kenny Rogers, a double album, sold well in Europe. It was the first new solo Rogers hits album to reach the United Kingdom for over a decade, despite many compilations there that were not true hits packages.
Rogers also signed with Capitol Records and had more success with the TV-advertised release 21 Number Ones in January 2006. Although this CD did contain 21 chart-toppers as the title claims (recorded between 1976 and the present day), this was not a complete collection of Rogers's number-one singles, omitting such singles as "Crazy in Love" and "What About Me?"
Capitol followed 21 Number Ones with Rogers' new studio album, Water & Bridges, in March 2006 on the Capitol Nashville Records label. The first single from the album was "I Can't Unlove You", which peaked at number 17 on the country charts, after spending over six months on the hit list, more than 50 years after he formed his first group and 38 years after his first major hit as leader of the First Edition; the song remains in recurrent airplay on some radio stations today. "I Can't Unlove You" was followed up with the second single from the album, "The Last Ten Years (Superman)", in September 2006. The third single, "Calling Me", which features Don Henley, became popular in early 2007, and was nominated for a Grammy at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Also in 2007, the 1977 Kenny Rogers album was reissued as a double CD, also featuring the 1979 Kenny album and this once again put Rogers's name into the sales charts worldwide. The following year, another compilation album (A Love Song Collection) also charted.
Retirement
In 2015, Rogers announced his farewell tour, titled The Gambler's Last Deal. He stated his intention to retire from touring at its completion, although he was considering the possibility of recording another studio album. In announcing the tour, Rogers indicated at the time that his final tour appearance would be on NBC's Today show. Concert dates were scheduled through 2018 and included visits to the United States, Australia, Scotland, Ireland, England, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. On April 5, 2018, though, Rogers canceled his remaining tour as advised by doctors due to a series of health problems.
Rogers's final concert in Nashville took place on October 25, 2017, at the Bridgestone Arena, where he was joined by an array of guest artists, including Linda Davis, Elle King, Little Big Town, Lionel Richie, Billy Currington, Lee Greenwood, The Flaming Lips, The Oak Ridge Boys, Justin Moore, Travis Tritt, the Judds, Kris Kristofferson, Alison Krauss, Chris Stapleton, Lady Antebellum, Idina Menzel, Crystal Gayle, Reba McEntire, and Jamey Johnson. The concert also included a special appearance by long-time friend Dolly Parton, who serenaded Rogers with her signature "I Will Always Love You" and performed "You Can't Make Old Friends" and "Islands in the Stream" with Rogers for the final time.
Bloodline
Although Rogers used many session musicians to play instruments on his recordings, he was backed on tours by the group Bloodline since 1976. The group originally started as three pieces. In The Journey (a 2006 documentary about his career), Rogers said he did not understand singers who changed their touring band every year, and that he stuck with Bloodline as they already "know the songs". Members of Bloodline have included Steve Glassmeyer, Chuck Jacobs, Randy Dorman, Gene Golden, Bobby Daniels, Rick Harper, Edgar Struble, Lynn Hammann, Warren Hartman, Gene Sisk, Brian Franklin, Mike Zimmerman, and Amber Randall.
Acting and other ventures
Rogers also had success as an actor. His 1982 movie Six Pack, in which he played a race-car driver, took in more than $20 million at the United States box office, while made-for-TV movies such as The Gambler series, Christmas in America, and Coward of the County (based on hit songs of his) topped ratings lists. He also served as host and narrator for the A&E historical series The Real West.
Rogers said that photography was once his obsession, before it morphed into a passion. He authored the photo books Kenny Rogers' America (1986) and Your Friends and Mine (1987).
As an entrepreneur, he collaborated with former Kentucky Fried Chicken CEO John Y. Brown Jr. in 1991 to start up the restaurant chain Kenny Rogers Roasters. The chicken and ribs chain, which is similar to Boston Market, featured in an episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld called "The Chicken Roaster". Season four of the TV series Fresh Off the Boat depicts the chain as owning a share of Louis Huang's Cattleman's Ranch restaurant and then filing for bankruptcy. Rogers is shown from the back, but played by Jeff Pomerantz in the episode "Let Me Go, Bro".
Rogers put his name to the Gambler Chassis Co., a sprint-car racing manufacturer started by C. K. Spurlock in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The company used the name from Rogers's hit song "The Gambler". During the 1980s and 1990s, Gambler was one of the fastest and widely used sprint cars, with such drivers as Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, and Doug Wolfgang driving the cars to victory in the World of Outlaws and the famous Knoxville Nationals. Gambler sprint cars were also successful in Australia, with drivers such as Garry Rush and Steve Brazier using Gamblers to win multiple Australian Sprintcar Championships. Rush also used a Gambler chassis to win the unofficial 1987 World Sprintcar Championship at the Claremont Speedway in Perth, Western Australia.
In October 2012, Rogers released the book Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir about the ups and downs in his musical career.
In 2014, Rogers appeared as himself in a GEICO commercial, singing part of his song "The Gambler" a cappella while acting as the dealer in a card game.
Personal life and death
Rogers was married five times and had five children. His first marriage was to Janice Gordon on May 15, 1958; they divorced in April 1960 with one child, a daughter. He married his second wife, Jean, in October 1960: they divorced in 1963. His third marriage was to Margo Anderson in October 1963; they divorced in 1975 and had a son. He married his fourth wife, actress Marianne Gordon, on October 1, 1977; they divorced in 1993, and had a son. His fifth marriage was to Wanda Miller on June 1, 1997. They had twin sons and remained married for 22 years until his death.
At Beaver Dam Farms, a former estate in Colbert, Georgia, Rogers kept a pet goat named Smitty. He acquired the animal from a friend in 2008. Rogers described the goat as "(his) center", providing a calming influence after long and stressful touring schedules.
Rogers's six-decade career wound down by 2017, as he encountered health problems that included a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and bladder cancer. Rogers died while under hospice care at his home in Sandy Springs, Georgia, on March 20, 2020, at age 81. He was interred in Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta.
Filmography
Record labels
The following is a list of record labels to which Rogers signed:
Cue (1957, with the band the Scholars and also as a solo singer)
Carlton (1958, solo deal)
KenLee (one single, label owned by Rogers and his brother Lelan)
Columbia (1960s, with jazz combo, the Bobby Doyle Three)
Reprise (1967, with the First Edition, all material recorded during this time has since been acquired by Universal Music Group)
Jolly Rogers (1973, with the First Edition, label was owned by Rogers)
United Artists (1975, solo deal)
Liberty (1980, United Artists merged into EMI/Capitol in 1980; some pressings of albums were issued on Capitol's imprint labels, EMI, EMI America, and EMI Manhattan.)
RCA Records (1983, solo deal)
Reprise (1989, solo deal)
Giant (1993, one solo album)
Atlantic (1994, one solo album)
onQ Music (1996, one solo album; onQ Music was created by the QVC Network to release exclusive albums for sale only on QVC. The first onQ release was Rogers's Vote for Love, a two-disc set that would later become available in standard retail stores.)
Magnatone (1996, solo deal)
Dreamcatcher (1998, solo deal; Dreamcatcher was owned and run by Rogers and Jim Mazza for the purpose of releasing Rogers's albums and certain reissues of Rogers's catalog. Other artists, such as Marshall Dyllon and Randy Dorman, were also released on Dreamcatcher Records. The label closed in 2004.)