INFLUENCED: Billy Currington and Kenny Rogers

Recent chart-topper Billy Currington looks to a country music and entertainment icon for inspiration when it comes to his growing career.  Billy shares, “Kenny Rogers is the man.  No doubt.  The first concert that I ever went to as a kid was Kenny Rogers.  I was just a big fan and, of course, I saw all the movies: Six Pak, The Gambler, Coward of the County.  I just wanted to be Kenny Rogers.” He laughs, “I even parted my hair down the middle like Kenny Rogers…[I’m a] big fan and still today that hasn’t changed.”  For his 2005 album Doin’ Somethin’ Right, Billy tackled one legendary Kenny tune when he added his version of “Lucille” to the project. 

Billy looks up to Kenny so much that he is one of many artists included as part of an upcoming television special Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years which celebrates the singer’s legacy of creating music that spans generations and crosses genres.  And that is something that Billy definitely admires.  He explains, “I like the way he recorded so many different types of music.  [Kenny] recorded a lot of love songs, but he could go over to like the Gideon album where he recorded all those roughneck-type songs and then, I’ve heard a lot of Gospel songs that he’s recorded.  He [has] recorded tons and tons of music.”  With a career lasting over 50 years, Billy thinks that the secret to Kenny’s success is diversity.  He says, “Just being diverse like that, and being an actor too; I just think that kept him going for all these years.  He can do it all.”

Doing it all and doing it well is something that Kenny is known for throughout his stellar career.  Kenny has taken on numerous acting roles, including his most famous one as “Brady Hawkes” in The Gambler movie series.  He has tackled the world of photography - publishing several books of his photos – and has even owned his own restaurant chain Kenny Rogers Roasters, but Kenny’s primary focus has always been music.

The Houston-born singer got his start while in high school in 1956 with a rockabilly group called The Scholars who eventually had the great opportunity to perform on the popular “American Bandstand.”  Soon, Kenny joined up with the Bobby Doyle Trio, a jazz band, but in 1966, he left that group to be a part of folk music’s New Christy Minstrels.  However, it was his time with The First Edition that secured Kenny his first big break with the psychedelic “I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).”  They soon followed that hit up with two tunes that helped the group make their mark in country music: “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town” and “Rueben James.”

When Kenny Rogers and The First Edition disbanded in 1974, Kenny embarked on his own solo country career.  After having a few solo minor hits, 1977’s “Lucille” took things to a whole new level.  While the song topped the charts in the country world, it also crossed over to pop music starting a repeating trend in Kenny’s career that lasted throughout the 1980s.  “Daytime Friends,” “The Gambler,” “Coward of the County,” “She Believes In Me,” and “Lady” soon followed.  Kenny’s undeniable raspy voice teamed up with fellow artists to create iconic duets like “Islands In The Stream” with Dolly Parton, a frequent collaborator with Kenny, “Every Time Two Fools Collide” with Dottie West, “Don’t Fall In Love With A Dreamer” with Kim Carnes, “We’ve Got Tonight” with Sheena Easton, not to mention “We Are The World.”

With 50 years behind him, Kenny Rogers is still going strong.  During the past year, Kenny hit the road on his 28th consecutive Kenny Rogers Christmas & Hits Tour and guest-starred on CBS’ popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother.  For more information on Kenny, check out his official website.

Photo courtesy of WireImage

Nikita Palmer for Citadel Digital © 2010

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