Kenny Rogers has died, according to his publicist, Keith Hagan. A statement released by Hagan on Friday evening says the country legend “passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family.” Rogers was 81 years old. During his six-decade, genre-hopping career, Rogers released 65 albums and sold more than 165 million records, making him one of the most successful recording artists of all time. A massive crossover star, he not only scored 24 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country chart, but more than 120 hits across various genre charts — including his 1978 signature story song "The Gambler,” which inspired five television movies and was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee in 2013, Rogers also won three Grammy Awards, 13 American Music Awards, six Country Music Association Awards, the CMA Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, and the CMT Artist of a Lifetime Award.Although Rogers’s chart streak didn’t continue throughout the ‘90s and beyond, he maintained a busy recording and touring schedule (he even played with Phish at Bonnaroo in 2012). He also authored the 2012 memoir Luck or Something Like It and 2013 novel What Are the Chances, and launched two businesses, the successful fast-food chicken chain Kenny Rogers Roasters and Sprint car manufacturing firm Gamblers Chassis.
Source : aol.com/entertainment
Source : aol.com/entertainment