Uploaded on Dec 3, 2011
Kenny Rogers~ "The Gift"
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers[1] (born August 21, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, entrepreneur and author.
Though he has been most successful with country audiences, he has charted more than 120 hit singles across various music genres and topping the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual weeks in the United States alone.
Two of his albums, The Gambler and Kenny, are featured in the About.com poll of "The 200 Most Influential Country Albums Ever".[2]
He was voted the "Favorite Singer of All-Time" in a 1986 joint poll by readers of both USA Today and People.[3]
He has received numerous such awards as the AMAs, Grammys, ACMs and CMAs, as well as a lifetime achievement award for a career spanning six decades in 2003.[4]
Later success includes the 2006 album release, Water & Bridges, an across the board hit, that peaked at No. 5 in the Billboard Country Albums sales charts, also charting high in the Billboard 200.
The first single from the album, "I Can't Unlove You," was also a chart hit. Remaining a popular entertainer around the world, the following year he completed a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, telling BBC Radio 2 DJ Steve Wright his favorite hit was "The Gambler".
He has also acted in a variety of movies and television shows, most notably the title roles in Kenny Rogers as The Gambler and the MacShayne series as well as his appearance on The Muppet Show.[5][6]
| Kenny Rogers | |
|---|---|
 Kenny Rogers, concert, Chumash Casino Resort hall, Santa Ynez, California, September 27, 2006. |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kenneth Ray Rogers[1] |
| Born | August 21, 1938 |
| Origin | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | Country, pop, rock (with The First Edition), jazz (with The Bobby Doyle Trio) |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, actor, record producer, entrepreneur, author |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, fiddle |
| Years active | 1958–present |
| Labels | Cue, Carlton, Mercury, United Artists, RCA, Giant/Reprise Records, Atlantic, Curb, Dreamcatcher, Capitol Nashville, WEA |
| Associated acts | The Scholars, The Bobby Doyle Trio, The New Christy Minstrels, The First Edition, Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Dottie West, Juice Newton, Sheena Easton, The Bee Gees, Barry Gibb, Kim Carnes, Ronnie Milsap, James Ingram, David Foster, Lionel Richie, Whitney Duncan, Don Henley, USA for Africa, Live Aid, |
| Website | www.kennyrogers.com |
Personal life
Kenneth Ray Rogers was born in Houston, Texas, in 1938, the fourth of eight[7] children born to Lucille (née Hester; d. 1991), a nurse's assistant[8], and Edward Floyd Rogers (d. 1975), a carpenter.[9]Rogers graduated from Jefferson Davis High School in Houston.
Career
Early career
His career began in the mid 1950s when he recorded with a rockabilly group called The Scholars, who had some success with a single called "Poor Little Doggie."Rogers was not the lead singer of the group and after two more singles they disbanded when their leader went solo.
Now on his own, Kenneth Rogers (as he was billed then) followed the breakup with his own single, a minor solo hit called "That Crazy Feeling" (1958).
After sales slowed down, Rogers joined a jazz group called The Bobby Doyle Trio, who got a lot of work in clubs thanks to a reasonable fan following and also recorded for Columbia Records.
The group 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 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)", "But You Know I Love You", "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town", "Reuben James", and "Something's Burning".
In his First Edition days, Rogers had something of a hippie image, sporting long brown hair, an earring, and pink sunglasses.
When the group split in 1976, Rogers launched his solo career.
Rogers soon developed a more middle of the road sound, with a somewhat rough but tuneful voiced style that sold to both pop and country audiences; to date, he has charted more than 60 top 40 hit singles (including upwards of 25 No. 1's) and 50 of his albums have charted.
His music has also been featured in top selling movie soundtracks, such as Convoy, Urban Cowboy and The Big Lebowski.[10][11]
Solo career
Producer Larry Butler and Rogers began a partnership that would last four years.[12]
Rogers 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 motion picture Trackdown.
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' post-First Edition career.
On the strength of "Lucille", the album Kenny Rogers reached No. 1 in the Billboard Country Album Chart.
More success was to follow, including the multi-million selling album The Gambler and another international Number 1 single, "Coward of the County", taken from the equally successful album, Kenny.
In 1980, the Rogers/Butler partnership came to an end, though they would occasionally reunite: 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 and Country Music legend Dottie West for a series of albums and duets.
Together the duo won 2 gold records (1 of which later went platinum), 2 CMA Awards, an ACM nomination, two Grammy nominations and 1 Music City News Award for their two hit albums "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (#1) and "Classics" (#3), 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" (#1), "Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight" (#2), "What Are We Doin' in Love" (#1), "All I Ever Need Is You" (#1) and "Till I Can Make It On My Own" (#3) 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 opposite Michele Lee as himself in the CBS biopic Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story.
In 1980, his duet with Kim Carnes "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" became a major hit.
Later in 1980 came his partnership with Lionel Richie who wrote and produced Rogers' No. 1 hit "Lady".
Richie went on to produce Rogers' 1981 album Share Your Love, a chart topper and commercial favorite featuring hits such as "I Don't Need You" (Pop No. 3), "Through the Years" (Pop No. 13), and "Share Your Love with Me" (Pop No. 14).
His first Christmas album was also released that same year. In 1982, Rogers released the album Love Will Turn You Around.
The Love Will Turn You Around (song) reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the country and AC charts. due to its exposure as the theme song of Rogers' 1982 film Six Pack.
Shortly after he started working with producer David Foster in 1983 recording the smash Bob Seger cover "We've Got Tonight", a duet with Sheena Easton.
He went on to work with the Bee Gees to record and produce his 1983 hit album Eyes That See in the Dark, featuring the title track and yet another No. 1 hit "Islands in the Stream", a duet with Dolly Parton.
The Gibbs originally wrote the song for Marvin Gaye in an R&B style, only later to change it for the Kenny Rogers album.[13]
The partnership with Bee Gees only lasted one album, which was not a surprise considering that Rogers' original intentions were to work with Barry Gibb in only one song but Barry insisted on them doing the entire album.
"Islands in the Stream", Rogers' duet with Dolly Parton, was the first single to be released from Eyes That See in the Dark in the United States, and it quickly went to No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 (it would prove to be the last country single to reach No. 1 on that chart until "Amazed" by Lonestar did so in 2000), as well as topping Billboard's country and adult contemporary singles charts; it was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipping two million copies in the United States.
Rogers would reunite with Parton in 1984 for a holiday album and TV special, Once Upon a Christmas, as well as a 1985 duet "Real Love", which also topped the U.S. country singles chart.[citation needed]
Despite the "Islands in the Stream"s success, however, RCA insisted on releasing Eyes' title track as the first UK single, and the song stalled at a disappointing No. 61 there, although it did stay in the top 100 for several weeks (when it was eventually released in the United States, it was more successful, charting high on the Adult Contemporary chart and making the country top 30).
"Islands in the Stream" was issued as a followup single in Britain and sold well, making No. 7. The album itself reached No. 1 on the country charts on both sides of the Atlantic and enjoyed multi-million sales.
"Buried Treasure," "This Woman" and "Evening Star"/"Midsummer Nights" were also all successful singles from the album.
Shortly after came the album What About Me?, a hit whose title track, a trio performance with James Ingram and Kim Carnes, was nominated for a Grammy award; the single "Crazy" (not to be confused with the Willie Nelson-penned Patsy Cline hit) topped the country charts. David Foster was to work again with Rogers in his 1985 album The Heart of the Matter, although this time Foster was playing backing music rather than producing, a role given to George Martin. This album was another success, going to No. 1, with the title track making to the top ten category in the singles charts.
The next few years saw Rogers scoring several top country hits on a regular basis, including "Twenty Years Ago," "Morning Desire," "Tomb of the Unknown Love", among others. On January 28, 1985 Rogers was one of the 45 artists who recorded the worldwide charity song "We Are the World" to support hunger victims in Africa.
The following year he played at Giants Stadium.[citation needed]
In January 1987, Rogers co-hosted the American Music Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. In 1988 Rogers won a grammy "Best Country Collaboration with Vocals" with Ronnie Milsap — "Make No Mistake, She's Mine". In the 1990s Rogers continued to chart with singles such as "Crazy In Love", "If You Want To Find Love" and "The Greatest".
His second Christmas album entitled "Christmas in America" was released in 1989 for Reprise Records. From 1991-94, Rogers hosted The Real West on A&E, and on The History Channel since 1995 (Reruns only on The History Channel). He visited Miller's during this time period. From 1992-95, Rogers co-owned and headlined Branson, Missouri's 4,000 seat Grand Palace Theatre. In 1994, Rogers released his "dream" album titled Timepiece on Atlantic Records. It consisted of 1930s/40s jazz standards; it was the type of music he performed in his early days with The Bobby Doyle Three in Houston.[citation needed]
In 1996 he released an album Vote For Love where the public requested their favorite love songs and Rogers performed the songs (several of his own hits were in there).
The album was the first for the TV shopping channel QVC's record label, onQ Music. The album, sold exclusively by QVC, was a huge success and was later issued in stores under a variety of different titles.
It reached No. 1 in the UK country charts under the title Love Songs (a title also used for various compilations) and also crossed over into the mainstream charts.
In 1999 Rogers scored with the single "The Greatest", a song about life from a child's point of view (looked at through a baseball game).
The song reached the top 40 of Billboard's Country singles chart and was a Country Music Television Number One video.
It was on Rogers' album She Rides Wild Horses the following year (itself a top 10 success).
In 1999, Rogers also produced a song, "We've Got It All", specifically for the series finale of the ABC show Home Improvement.
Not on any album, the recording sells for a high sum at auction.[citation needed]
Source: Wikipedia.org
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