The Gambler Kenny Rogers

March 26, 2020

• 

  Photo Credit: Today Show

  He was known for his husky and raspy voice, his country music and mutiple hits such as “Lady,” “The Gambler,” “Lucille,” “Through the Years,” “She Believes in Me,” and “Islands in the Stream.”

  Kenneth Donald Rogers, or simply Kenny Rogers, was born on August 21, 1938 at Houston, Texas.

  Rogers’ childhood was simply great. It was 1956 when he was in hig school that he started his first band namely “The Scholars.” The following year, he performed his first solo single entitled “That Crazy Feeling” in an popular music show called “American Bandstand,” and immediately signed contract in Carlton Records, a small record label, in 1958.

  The 70s has become a hit to Rogers when he has begun solo career once more. He has his first major hit, the ballad “Lucille,” which won him a Grammy award in 1977, as best male vocal performance for a country song.

  The following year, he released his album “The Gambler,” where his solo track with the same title won him another Grammy for best male country vocal performance.

  He was called “The Gambler” because in 1980, Rogers appeared in a made-for-television movie where he played as an expert gambler teaching a young protégé the tricks of the trade. It became a hit that’s why four sequels was made having Rogers featured for all premiere. This also opened him into different collaborations until the 90s.

  

  Though his career had tapered a little in the mid-1990s, he continued to release albums almost every year. For an instance, he launched his own record label namely “Dreamcatcher Entertainment.” With his recording label, he released a gospel album titled “The Love of God” in 2011 and relaunched in 2012 as “AMazing Grace.”

  With his vast career as a singer and songwriter, Rogers filled his life also in authoring books. In 1978, he co-authored a self-help book with Len Epand titled “Making It with Music: Kenny Rogers’ Guide to the Music Business.” He published an autobiography titled “Luck or Something Like It—A Memoir” in 2012.

  In 2016, Rogers had still embarked a farewell world tour as entry to his eminent retirement. It was intended to end by August of 2018 but due to poor health conditions, it was cut short until April 2018.

  It was March 20, 2020, the whole world and the music industry mourned his death. According to the family representative named Keith Hagan, Rogers peacefully died at their home in Sandy Springs, Georgia. He was under hospice care upon death.

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by Kenny Rogers (@_kennyrogers)

  In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rogers’ death has become a venue of charity and solidarity. Donors and benefactors can donate to the COVID-19 relief efforts through MusiCares and Recording Academy to help music creators and professionals without work during the coronavirus pandemic.

  Farewell, The Gambler!

• COMMENTS