Kenny Rogers Thinking About The Future

At 68, The Popular Country Singer Is Not Resting On His Laurels

(CBS)  But that was just the beginning for Rogers. Superstardom was still ahead, after he had reinvented himself yet again, as a Nashville country singer.

"When 'Lucille' came out, it was just, wow," Rogers says. "No matter what I did, I could never be what I was before."

Nor would he want to be. Over the next two decades, Rogers became not only the richest country singer around, but one of the most popular entertainers of all time. In the '70s and '80s, he had hit after hit.

"I don't remember it, and I didn't do drugs," Rogers says. "It's a blur. I have awards right now that I do not remember walking on stage to get."

He does remember the "The Gambler." Who doesn't? It won almost every award there was to win and spawned five TV movies with Rogers in the starring role.

"I'd never acted in my life, but again, success gives you that opportunity to experiment at a very high level, so they surrounded me with a good director, a great cast, the movie looked good. All I had to do was be myself in different clothes."

He followed that act with "Islands in the Stream," a duet with another country superstar: Dolly Parton.

"When I left the studio after recording it, I could not get it out of my mind," Parton says. "Just singing it and singing it, and I thought, 'If this is not a hit song, I really don't know my butt from a biscuit.' "

Another great pairing was Kenny Rogers and Lionel Richie, who wrote and produced another huge Kenny Rogers hit: "Lady."

"When I worked with Lionel, he came from an R&B place," Rogers says. "And I said, 'Lionel, I don’t want to sing R&B. I want to be me,' and he said, 'Be you, but grow.' "

You might say that being able to grow, while staying true to his easy going, likeable self is the reason Kenny Rogers has stayed at the top of his game for nearly 50 years. That, and a keen eye for the joys, and the humor, of celebrity. A keen eye he brings to another passion of his: photography.

He's published three books of photographs, and, as you might expect, there's a story with every one, including the photos of his childhood hero, Ray Charles.

"I ran into him in the airport, two or three years before he died. I said, 'Ray, I'll tell you right now, I'm gonna shoot with a flash, but I'm gonna use a long exposure, and I'd like you do that little rock thing because I want to get the movement.' I told him the dirtiest joke I knew, and he rocked for 10 minutes. I got the greatest shot."

These days, you may be surprised to learn, Rogers' consuming passion is home decorating.

"More people think wagon wheels when they think country," he says. "And I guarantee you most country artists don't like wagon wheels. For me, there's a certain wow factor."

A wow factor that was certainly evident in Rogers' two-story bedroom, complete with a gazebo like trellis, faux skylight over the bed and a waterfall.

He's even got his own Design Store, inspired by his Atlanta home. One thing you learn pretty quickly about Kenny Rogers — he's always looking ahead. These days, he's building a new house better suited for a couple of rambunctious boys.

"I'm so totally future oriented that, for me, I don't know what the future's about, but I can promise you it's gonna be exciting," he says.

But for now, it seems, the present is pretty good. And it's just where Kenny Rogers wants to be.

[juliehg-2009]

Oprah would have asked...

[jangelieri]

Sir,
I%u2019ve got to give Russ Mitchell a really poor grade for his interview with Kenny Rogers. He wimped out and failed to ask Kenny the one question that everyone wants to know about the obvious face-lift procedure he had done. I submit to you that thousands, maybe millions of your viewers and fans would love to have heard his answer and whether he was pleased with the results or not. Reporter Russ Mitchell really wimped out!

Respectfully,
Joseph Angelieri
Key West, FL