Every Friday around 11 a.m. Central, it’s time for Classic Americana on Radio Heartland. We pull a special track from the archives or from deep in the shelves to spotlight a particular artist or song.

Kenny Rogers is one of the most awarded and celebrated artists in popular music. In a career that touched seven decades, Rogers sold more than 120 albums worldwide, and he also has to his credit multiple awards, including three Grammys and his 2013 induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Something remarkable about Rogers’ music is its widespread appeal. Whereas he primarily found himself in the country orbit, his songs also frequently landed in the Adult Contemporary, Top 40, R&B and Christian charts. Rogers netted 24 No. 1 hits overall, including beloved classics like “Lucille,” “The Gambler,” “She Believes In Me,” and “Island in the Stream,” a duet he shared with Dolly Parton.

A lifelong collaborator, Kenny Rogers’ songwriting partners included Don Schlitz (“The Gambler”), Lionel Richie (“Lady”), and Barry Gibb (“Islands in the Stream”). When it came to recording and performing, Rogers enjoyed duets not only with Dolly Parton but also with Dottie West, Sheena Easton and Alison Krauss, among others. And Rogers participated in one of music’s biggest-ever collaborations when he recorded with a roomful of the era’s best musicians on the USA for Africa single, “We Are The World.”

Beyond music, Rogers enjoyed other creative activities, notably photography, which led to Rogers receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2017. Rogers was also an actor, portraying the title character in the made-for-TV film series The Gambler. He also starred in the 1982 comedy Six Pack, a movie about a race car driver (played by Rogers) who becomes the unlikely father figure to a ragtag group of kids.

The soundtrack to Six Pack includes the song “Love Will Turn You Around” from Rogers’ album of the same name. The song went to No. 1 in both the country and adult contemporary charts, and it peaked at No. 13 in Billboard’s Hot 100. We’ll hear the song as our Classic Americana pick of the week.

After a long, storied and highly decorated career, Rogers died from natural causes while in hospice care at his home in suburban Atlanta on March 20, 2020. He was 81.

Classic Americana Playlist

External Links

Kenny Rogers – official site