- In Memory Of: Kenny Rogers ... Kenneth Ray Rogers (1938 – 2020)
Kenny Rogers Had a Remarkable Career. Here are a few highlights:
* Kenny Rogers joined the folk-pop group The First Edition in the late 1960s, which scored a major hit with the psychedelic track “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” in 1967. This marked Rogers’ transition from jazz and folk to mainstream pop and country.
* In 1978, Rogers released “The Gambler”, which became his signature song. He won a Grammy, and it later inspired a series of five American Western television films, between 1980 and 1994. Kenny Rogers played the character Brady Hawkes.
* In 2013, Kenny Rogers was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, honoring his six-decade career. He retired in 2017, and his final studio album “You Can’t Make Old Friends” featured a touching duet with Dolly Parton, echoing their earlier hit “Islands in the Stream”. 🌅 Late Career Milestone: Hall of Fame and Farewell: Kenny Rogers passed away peacefully at home on March 20, 2020, at the age of 81.
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REFERENCES:
- “Kenny Rogers.” Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
- Giacomazzo, Bernadette. “Kenny Rogers Dead At 81 — Details Revealed About The Country Music Legend’s Possible Cause Of Death.” YourTango, 21 Mar. 2020.
- McBride, Jessica. “Kenny Rogers’ Cause of Death: How Did the Singer Die?” EntertainmentNow, 21 Mar. 2020.
DID YOU KNOW?
🎸 1. Glen
Campbell played backwards guitar on this track.
🎤 2.
Kenny Rogers wasn't supposed to be the lead or a star (He was just
one of four lead vocalists in The First Edition. The group needed one
more song for their album, and Rogers suggested this one. It became
their breakout hit and launched Rogers' career.)
🎥 3. The Song was featured in the cult classic "The Big Lebowski" and resulted in introducing the track to a whole new generation and cementing its place in pop culture.
![By KWa (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ATears_for_Fears_2008.jpg){kind=link}