Kenny Rogers: A Tribute from a Loyal Fan

“Islands in the Stream” played on repeat on the soundtrack of my early childhood. My mom was my DJ at that point, so I have always credited her with my love of Kenny Rogers and my love of his duet with the always impressive Dolly Parton. “Islands in the Stream” was released in July of 1983, so I would have been 2.5 when it came out. By the time I was three, I had it memorized (though my version of the lyrics was not exactly accurate), “From my mother to my brother” just made more sense to my three year-old brain than “from one lover to another.” If there was a lull in the conversation when dinner guests were at our house, my mom would suggest I sing “Islands in the Stream”; I was all in every single time. Singing that song is my earliest memory of Kenny Rogers, but my love for him didn’t stop in my early childhood. I have always loved him.

When I was in middle school, I dug through a drawer of cassette tapes my mom had, and I found Kenny Rogers Twenty Greatest Hits. I had listened to that tape millions of times as my mom’s wingman, but now I wanted to listen for myself. As I listened in my room, I realized I loved every song. Ok, I will be 100 percent honest . . . I loved every song on the track list except for two (1.). The tape became my sidekick. I had it with me in the car, and I’d slip it back into my pocket when we got home, so I could listen to it while I got ready the next morning.

At some point during middle school, I was having a conversation with a group of friends about our favorite songs, and I said something like “My favorite song is ‘The Gambler’ by Kenny Rogers. In fact, he’s my favorite singer”. I can’t remember the exact words or looks, but I can remember the feeling. It was something like, “You must be joking.” I wasn’t surprised then, and I’m not surprised when I wax poetic about Kenny and get the same reaction now. Kenny Rogers wasn’t really getting a lot of air time on Power 94.5 FM in 1995. But he was getting a lot of air time on the cassette player in our family’s 1990 Buick LeSabre as we drove the 20 miles between Abilene, Kansas and Junction City, Kansas to see my grandpa who spent a good deal of time in the hospital and nursing home that year. My mom and I drove some sad miles in those days, not sure how Grandpa would be when we got to his room, but when we sang “We’ve Got Tonight”, Kenny’s duet with Sheena Easton, or “Daytime Friends” or “Ruben James”, we were truly having fun. And I mean, we sounded pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

And the irony of the “are you serious?” reactions I get when I proclaim my love for Kenny Rogers is that I feel my love for him has actually brought me close to people. There was my freshman year in high school when I had to perform a lip sync for my drama class, and I coerced my group into doing “The Gambler” even though other groups were singing TLC’s “Waterfalls” and Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise.” We performed on stage in the auditorium for our class and a few other classes. During the chorus of “The Gambler”, nearly the entire crowd was singing along. A few of my classmates had even put their arms around the necks of the person next to them. There was the time I asked my dad his favorite song (my dad who just isn’t all that interested in music), and he thought for a second and then said, “I guess my favorite song is ‘Something’s Burning.’” It was music to my ears. I hadn’t even coached him, and he chose a Kenny Rogers’ song. His choice seemed to prove we were cut from the same cloth, my dad and I. There was the time during my sophomore year in college where I talked my friends into going to a Kenny Rogers Christmas concert. We were the only Kenny Rogers fans at the Bicentennial Center in Salina, Kansas with a poster, but we shamelessly held it up and cheered for him. We ran toward the stage at the end of the night, and then we tried to run out to his bus. We got there just as he was pulling away. My roommate Nichole was holding the sign that said “We love you, Kenny!” And I would like to believe that he saw us and got a good chuckle out of that. There was the time Wes and I needed an act for the family talent show, so I sang “The Gambler” a cappella while Wes juggled socks behind me. It got a good laugh, but it also got a lot of crowd participation from that irresistible chorus. And at breakfast the next morning, Wes’s Grandpa Joe told me that he had always liked Kenny Rogers, too, which made my heart soar because Grandpa Joe was one of the coolest people to walk the planet.

So, last night, my brother texted me and let me know that Kenny Rogers passed away. All of the write ups I have found say he died of natural causes and surrounded by his family. He has twin 14 year-olds, a beautiful wife named Wanda, and three other children from other marriages (including a 37 year-old son named Christopher whose name I used to doodle on my folders in middle school and high school because I figured if we were the same age, maybe one day we could meet up). I am really sad the world lost Kenny Rogers. He’s been with me my entire life. As the day went on, I got several messages from friends and family telling me they heard he’d passed and that they were thinking of me, and well, it’s kind of perfect because here he is bringing me close to people again (even in my little corner of the quarantined world). But that’s what music does, right? It’s what it’s always done for me. It’s always brought people near to me, helped me make sense of sad situations, launched celebrations for moments of joy, and comforted me like an old friend in times of pain. And truly no other musician will ever do this more for me than Kenny did. My heart is filled with gratitude for the music of Kenny Rogers and the experiences I have had because of him. As Dolly Parton said on Twitter this morning, “God bless you, Kenny, fly high. Straight to the arms of God.”

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Footnote

1. “She Believes in Me” (written by Steve Gibb, but not Steve Gibb who is the son of Barry Gibb) and “I Don’t Need You” are just not Kenny Rogers’ best work. If you aren’t sure how many words could be used to rhyme with night, just take a look at “She Believes in Me.” Makes me think of another “ight” rhyme . . . trite. Also featured in this song, the jerk narrator whose girl believes in him. She believes in him, and she’s waiting for him all night while he’s playing his crummy songs in dive bars. And he gets home to tell her his NIGHT was ALL RIGHT. He does hold her TIGHT, but then he stumbles to the kitchen for a BITE and even though he knows she’s crying because she feels neglected, he goes and plays his guitar alone instead of . . . oh, I don’t know . . . having a conversation with her.

The first few lyrics of “I Don’t Need You” are “I don’t need you, I don’t need friendship, and I don’t need flowers in the spring.” So depressing, Kenny. I mean, I know you didn’t write the song (Rick Christian did), but I actually do need those things. But given the current Covid-19 situation of our world, this song may be worth another look. It’s kind of life right now. And yeah, I know if you make it to the end of the song, there’s this hopeful nod to maybe he does need her and she does need him, and it ends with “Or do we?” meaning maybe we do we need each other. But by the time you get to that point, you’re drowning your sorrows in a pile of nachos with tears and snot streaming down your face.