COLBERT, Ga. — Legendary singer-songwriter, producer, actor and entrepreneur Kenny Rogers died Friday night, March 20th, at the age of 81. The winner of three Grammys, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013, made 65 albums and sold over 190 million records.
Kenneth Ray Rogers was born August 21st 1938 in Houston, Texas. He was the fourth of eight children born to Lucille and Edward Floyd Rogers.
Kenny Rogers launced a seven-decade musical career with the high school band the Scholars in 1958, and became bass player of jazz group the Bobby Doyle Trio. He first recorded for Carlton records in 1958. In the mid-60's he found the spotlight that would follow him for six decades when joining the Kirby Stone Four and then the folk ensemble New Christy Minstrels, playing double bass and bass guitar as well as singing. In 1967, he and several members of the New Christy Minstrels 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, and 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 1975–1976, and Kenny Rogers embarked on a long and successful solo career, which included numerous award-winning collaborations. Rogers teamed up with Dottie West in the '70s for a series of successful albums. The pair remained close friends until West's death in 1991. Rogers worked with many other notables throughout his career, including duets with Sheena Easton and Kim Carnes, and forever became associated with Dolly Parton. The pair provided numerous musical and performance memories, but the crown jewel became the country and pop chart-topping hit 'Islands In The Stream' in 1983. His signature song, 1978's 'The Gambler', was a cross-over 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 would develop the Gambler persona into a character for a successful series of television films starting with 1980's Emmy-nominated Kenny Rogers as The Gambler.
Remaining a popular entertainer around the world, Kenny Rogers toured regularly until his 2017 retirement.