Kenny Rogers Does Christmas
Ah, Christmas in New York! The tree at Rockefeller Center! The displays in the shop windows on Fifth Avenue! The Kenny Rogers holiday stage show! It makes sense to Kenny Rogers fans, who know their favorite singer is a Christmas kind of guy.
The Grammy-winning singer has made no fewer than four Christmas albums. Now he's starring in a stage show called Christmas From the Heart, which is in the midst of a seven-week holiday run, through Jan. 3, at New York's Beacon Theater.
Rogers is joined by dozens of other performers, including musicians and a holiday chorale, singing a mix of new tunes and old holiday favorites in a one-act play about a toy shop owner who discovers the joy of the holiday.
The musical is based on an original story written by Rogers and Kelly Junkerman. Music and lyrics were written by Rogers and two members of his band, Warren Hartman and Steven Glassmyer.
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"I love telling stories in music," Rogers says. "My whole family - grandfather, father, uncles - were first-class storytellers. I loved hearing them sing harmony. That's when I first got interested in music."
Rogers, 60, says Christmas has always been special to him, ever since he was a kid in the Houston projects.
When he was a child, Rogers tells CBS This Morning Co-Anchor Mark McEwen, money was so tight that Christmas was an occasion to stock up on practical items like clothes, and it was rare for the seven Rogers children to get something as frivolous as a toy. But one Christmas, his mother took an extra job, and Rogers got a bow-and-arrow set on Christmas Eve.
"I went out on Christmas Eve and lost every arrow," Rogers says with a chuckle. "My mom was so mad at me."
Rogers has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a Hero of Public Housing, an honor given to successful individuals who grew up in public housing. He also is a recipient of the Horatio Alger Award, presented to people who have overcome personal hardship and achieved success.
Rogers also has received scores of entertainment awards, including three Grammys and 11 People's Choice trophies. Although he had a hit record as early as 1957 (That Crazy Feeling), it wasn't until the late '60s that he hit the charts again, as the lead singer of The First Edition.
The First Edition disbanded in 1976 and, the following year, Rogers had four country music hits as a solo act, including his crossover hit Lucille.
He owes much of his success to the distinctive growl in his voice. "It's so strange," says Rogers. "I was in a hotel the other day [in] some little city, and no one knew I was there. I picked up the phoneÂ…and I get the long-distance operator, and all I said was, 'Would you help me with this number?' She says, 'Are you Kenny Rogers?' Out of nowhere!"
His hit song The Gambler has inspired four made-for-TV movies in which he starred. Rogers has made a specialty of "story songs," which also include Coward of the County.
Other successful Rogers releases including Lady, You Decorated My Life, She Believes in Me, and Islands in the Stream, his duet with Dolly Parton.
Rogers also enjoys photography and has published two books, Kenny Rogers' America, a collection of black-and-white landscapes, and Your Friends and Mine, featuring celebrity portraits.