“You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille…”
Kenny Rogers was big — and I mean BIG — in our house in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.
No one could totally replace Elvis in my parents’ lives, but he was entering his last few months on the planet when “Lucille” was released in January 1977.
The next year, “The Gambler” was in heavy rotation in our house — and in many houses across the U.S. That was followed in rapid succession by “Don’t Fall in Love With a Dreamer” (a duet with Dottie West, a frequent collaborator) and then the Lionel Ritchie-produced “Lady,” which became Rogers’ first #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Rogers’ career tailed off somewhat after the huge mid 1980s hits “We’ve Got Tonight” and “Islands in the Stream,” duets with Sheena Easton and Dolly Parton, and “Crazy” (co-written with Richard Marx), but he still made a few here and there. In 2000, he became the oldest country singer to have a chart topping song with “Buy Me a Rose,” a duet with Alison Krauss.
I moved on from Rogers’ music just after graduating from high school, but upon learning of his death while driving to New York yesterday, found a flood of songs from my childhood coming back.
Memories have a way of doing that to you. Thanks for the long run, Kenny.
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