Kenny Rogers

 

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

Kenneth Donald Rogers was born in Houston, Texas on August 21, 1938. He was the fourth of eight children born to Edward and Lucille Rogers, a carpenter and a nurse's assistant, respectively.  Money was always tight for the family.  Although they lived in a public housing project, Rogers would later state that he was never hungry, despite his father's $75 a week salary.

Rogers had an interest in music from an early age, winning his first talent show when he was just ten years old.  Later, after graduating from high school (the first in his family to ever do so), he began his recording career with a Houston area group called The Scholars.  They released their first single, The Poor Little Doggie, in 1956.  He'd perform with a number of groups over the next twenty years before finally going solo in 1976.

That year, Rogers released his first album Love Lifted Me.  It was a modest success, but his self-titled album Kenny Rogers, released just one year later, made him a household name.  He followed it up in 1978 with the album, song, and character that would define his career, The Gambler.  The character became so synonymous with Rogers that Hollywood came a calling, releasing a made-for-TV movie in 1978 with Rogers in his first major acting role.  You can watch the film for free on YouTube.

Throughout his forty-year solo career, Rogers released 65 albums and sold over 165 million records.  He had a score of musical collaborations, with such country artists as Dottie West, and, most famously, Dolly Parton.  He finally retired in 2017.  His final concert, appropriately held in Nashville, included a slew of guest artists, including Lee Greenwood, The Oak Ridge Boys, and Travis Tritt.

By 2020, Rogers was diagnosed with bladder cancer.  It ultimately took his life on March 20.  He was 81 years old.  He was laid to rest in Atlanta Georgia's Oakland Cemetery.

Location: Lot 599, Bobby Jones Neighborhood

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about Kenny Rogers, take a voyage to Amazon.  It's all in books.
  
  
• In 1991, Rogers opened a restaurant chain called Kenny Rogers Roasters.  By 2011, the company had closed all of its US locations.  It still thrives today overseas however, with locations throughout Asia.  At its height, the restaurant even served as a plot point in an episode of the classic sit-com Seinfeld.
  
  
• In 1973, Rogers appeared as himself in a commercial for the Quick-Pickin' 'N Fun-Strummin' Home Guitar Course, a name that I most certainly did not make up.  While it was often lampooned for its cheesiness, it is sometimes credited with revitalizing his career.  Check it out on YouTube.
  
  
• In 1986, Rogers established the Athens Area Homeless Shelter in Athens, Georgia.  It's still in operation today, providing services and financial assistance to the local homeless community, as well as their annual "Jammin' in Our Jammies" fundraising event.  Check out their website for more information.
  
  
• Rogers donated his time and talent to two classic awareness-raising music videos, We Are the World and Voices That Care, even snagging a solo bit during the former.