A Tribute to Kenny Rogers | POP FIX | Professor of Rock

A tribute to the Gambler, Kenny Rogers, with insight from our interview with him on some of his greatest songs.

When Kenny Rogers passed, I felt a deep sadness, the kind of feeling you get when you lose a grandfather, or a favorite uncle. The news compelled me to reflect on The Gambler’s career, and while doing so, I was reminded of the multitude of amazing songs that he gave us to cherish, and enrich our lives.
And he was global: More than 120 Kenny Rogers singles charted around the world. His albums topped the country and pop album charts for more than 200 weeks in the U.S. alone. He had twenty one #1 singles on the Country chart. Kenny was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Two of his 21 country number ones “Lucille” and “Coward of the Country” hit #1 on the general sales chart in the UK

Kenny’s Greatest Hits album was the only LP by a solo country artist to top the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart during the 80s. Selling over 12 million units.
He has sold over 100 million units, worldwide. As further evidence of his enormous popularity, in a joint poll conducted by USA Today & People Magazine in 1986, Kenny was voted ‘Favorite Singer of All Time’.

While getting reacquainted with his repertoire that spanned more than 60 years, I found a new appreciation for Kenny. It was incredible how he could connect with a mass audience with virtually every genre and style that he pursued. He rocked steady with a counter-culture sentiment of the 60s as lead singer & front person for the New Edition. He riveted audiences with his sing-a-long story telling in songs like “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town”, “Lucille,” “Reuben James”, and “Coward of the County” which has resonated so deeply for so many folks, Kenny made lovers swoon with the passion of his soul-stirring ballads like the enthralling Lionel Richie standard Lady and You Decorated My Life, and he was one half of some of the most beautiful duets of the rock era with Islands in the Stream with Dolly Parton and We’ve Got Tonight with Sheena Easton.

I was so fortunate to have an enlightening deep dive conversation with Kenny Just as everyone that has worked with Kenny has stated, he was a consummate gentleman humble, grateful for his success and to me he seemed like one of us so down to earth and genuine ,
Here are my Top 5 Kenny Rogers recorded performances:
#5) “Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In”- Kenny shows what a versatile talent he was with a bluesy psychedelic rock vocal performance on this 1967 hit Kenny had with his band The First Edition that rose to #5 on the U.S. pop chart. The song was composed by Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Mickey Newbury.
#4) Steve Dorff and Marty Panzer’s “Through the Years”released in 1982, where Kenny delivers an emotionally charged vocal that has become an anthem of romantic nostalgia.
#3) “Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer” a duet with Kim Carnes from 1980. Kenny had many hit songs with duets- partnering with such superstars as Sheena Eaton, Wynonna Judd, Ronnie Milsap, and especially Dottie West. His most successful duet was the #1 pop, country & A.C. smash “Islands In the Stream” with the incomparable Dolly Parton, but on “Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer”, Kenny just flat out wails during a powerful call & response vocal exchange with Kim Carnes. It’s perhaps one of the most vocally challenging songs Kenny ever sang. Listen to the part of the tune just after the bridge, when the duo blasts back into the chorus, and you will hear why I chose this song as one of my’ Top 5 Kenny Rogers performances’.
#2) “Lady”- The maestro- Lionel Richie- gave this song to Kenny to record, and Kenny delivered his purest, most honest vocal performance. “Lady” was a huge triumph. It ascended to #1 on the Hot 100, the Country, and the Adult Contemporary charts in 1980.

#1 “The Gambler”- written by fellow Country Music Hall of Famer Don Schlitz. “The Gambler” is Kenny’s signature song that won him a Grammy in 1980. The song has been heavily used in pop culture, and in 2018, “The Gambler” was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. Kenny turned the popularity of the song into a ‘made for TV’ mini series entitled Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Kenny is one of the most idolized singers of all time, and he is arguably the greatest storyteller of all time.