It's only September, but Kenny Rogers assures us he is already feeling the Christmas spirit. Before beginning a phone interview with HNGN to promote his new album "Once Again It's Christmas," the legendary country artist even exclaims that he's wearing a red shirt.
It's a level of enthusiasm that might come as a surprise when you consider Rogers has been working as a musician for more than 50 years now.
"I came up with a concept: success is no reason to quit," Rogers tells us. "And I believe that. I think that you need three things in your life to be happy: someone to love, something to do and something to look forward to. If you lose any of those three, your life changes drastically. So you have to have something in your life to look forward to, and I look forward to performing right now, and my children. I have two boys that are 11 years old."
Rogers, known for timeless hit songs like "The Gambler" and his classic duet with Dolly Parton, "Islands In The Stream," boasts a career of staggering achievements: more than 120 milion albums sold, 24 No. 1 songs, 11 No. 1 albums, a charting record in each of the past seven decades and 28 appearances on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Top 10 - ranking him only behind Elton John, Neil Diamond and Elvis Presley among male artists.
His more recent activities have been equally impressive, with a Grammy Nomination coming in 2014 for "You Can't Make Old Friends" (another duet with Parton), performances at festivals like Bonnaroo and Glastonbury, a Country Music Hall of Fame induction and a Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 47th annual CMAs. "Once Again It's Christmas," which is released Friday, Sept. 25, will be his third album of all new recordings since 2011. Since our interview with Rogers, the singer on Friday announced on "The Today Show" that his 2016 world tour will be his final tour.
During our wide-ranging conversation, we spoke with Rogers about his sixth Christmas album and accompanying tour, what Christmas was like growing up in Texas, his passion for photography, why he'd like to work with Pharrell - and that "Seinfeld" espisode about a Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant.
You've done several Christmas albums before. How did you select the songs for this one?
I didn't know this, the record company told me, the last Christmas album I did was 17 years ago. They said that was a pretty decent cycle, every 17 years. So I started looking at songs and they also told me, they don't care who the artist is, when the public goes to buy a Christmas album, they're looking for memories and you have to have a certain amount of songs that they recognize. They don't want to hear all new songs, because they have no way of knowing if it's good or bad. So we were conscious to put like "Little Drummer Boy" and things like that and the thing I did with Jennifer Nettles, "Baby It's Cold Outside." So you look and you see three or four songs and you go, "OK, I can see him singing that," and I think that's what makes people interested in the album. And then you throw in some new songs just to make it fresh, and I always try to look for really unique songs, like "Mary, Did You Know?" that I did with Wynonna Judd; I think that's an unusual look at Christmas. And on this album there's a song called "Some Children See Him," and I did this with Alison Krauss, and she's one of the best singers I have ever heard. She sang background on "Buy Me A Rose" with Billy Dean. She came in and once she started singing, she has this angelic voice. And the song is really about kids and Christ, and the whole thing is some children see him white, and black children don't necessarily have to see Christ as white, and Chinese children, they can see him with almond eyes, it's really that Christ is the embodiment of grace and love. It was just such an unusual look and such a beautifully written song that I enjoyed doing that.
You also included a new song, "The Light," which you co-wrote with bandmate Steve Glassmeyer. Tell us about that song.
Well we started writing it about two or three years ago. I've been doing this Christmas tour for 35 years and I do 30 shows in a row at Christmastime, and we would be backstage before the show and we started playing with this concept, Warren Hartman, who was one of the producers on this album, was also a cowriter with us. He's a piano player extraordinaire. And he would sit down and play changes and we would think about what we wanted to say with the song, and we got the idea for this big grandiose moment, and we kept putting this choir in our mind. And when we heard the choir, it took the song to a whole different place. It was really wonderful. It was very uplifting to hear the choir.
You took the beautiful photo that's on the cover of the album. What's the story behind the photo?
I am a photographer and I drive around the world all the time looking for pictures to take to just keep me in a positive place during the day. Several years ago I was in North or South Dakota and I saw this beautiful orange tree in the middle of all this white snow, and I just thought it jumped out at me and I had to photograph it. Then the record company said they wanted to use it as the album cover, and I couldn't see it as the album cover. And then they put it together and it looks beautiful, and I'm very proud of it.
What type of feeling do you get when you go on stage? Has that feeling changed over the years? Do you feel nervous?
I've been doing this too long to get nervous, but I do a lot of hits, and someone asked if I got tired doing those hits, and I said, "No, I'd hate to be the guy who went out without 'em." I love doing them and I love the response, I love that people know the songs. And I've written a lot of songs about Christmas over the years and a lot of stories that I've done, and I think it's a very special time of year, so I enjoy both factors, the hits and the Christmas. And Christmas allows me to sing songs that I don't do the rest of the year, so there's a refreshing part of that.
You've had so many career milestones, but which ones are the high points for you?
I think the duets. The duets I've sung with some of the most beautiful and talented women: Kim Carnes, Sheena Easton, Dottie West and Dolly Parton, they all brought something special to the table and I take great pride in finding unique songs that match voices well, and I think the thing we did with Sheena Easton, "We've Got Tonight," is very special. The thing I did with Wynonna Judd, "Mary, Did You Know?" I think is a great piece of music and our voices sound good together. I never wanted to be a solo singer, I always loved singing harmony and dual parts. When I was a kid I was in a jazz group and we used to sing real avant garde harmonies, and I miss that, I miss not singing parts and doing things like that.
What else would you like to accomplish?
As far as musically, I'm thinking I may do a duets album next and sing with some unlikely people. You know, I don't necessarily do the obvious, I would like to do something with Pharrell or somebody like that and do a song that works for both of us and let them produce it. I actually had an idea, Lionel [Richie] did a thing where he had other people come sing his hits with him, and I had the idea that I might try to sing someone else's hits with them, but I don't know that I'm capable of that. You reach as hard as you can reach and as far as you can go, but I would love to work with some of these people, and I know a lot of the black community respects what I've done - I feel like Donald Trump - so I would like to do a duet album.
Right now my kids are my bucket list. I just took my kids on safari in Africa and that was awesome.
You seem like a guy that doesn't take himself too seriously, judging by the GEICO commercial where you sing "The Gambler" during a card game, the "Reno 911" episode you appeared in and things like that. Am I right?
Oh, absolutely. I love self-deprecating humor. Like I tell the boys, "It's only funny if nobody else gets hurt," and I think to laugh at yourself shows strength, I believe that with all my heart, and when you're afraid to do that, then you need to back away, because everybody else is going to laugh at you if you don't laugh at yourself. If you beat 'em to it, there's no reason for them to do it. I've never taken myself seriously, and I'm as shocked as anybody is by my success.
On that note, what did you think when you saw the Kenny Rogers Roasters episode of "Seinfeld"?
You know, Jerry opened for me when he first started as a comedian, and he thought he was going to be riding with me on my bus from show to show, and we said, "That's not how this works, Jerry" (laughs), and he was shocked that he didn't get to ride on my bus, and I think he wrote another episode about that. And I love what they did (in the Kenny Rogers Roasters episode); we furnished them with the store location and all the pictures, and I thought it was really funny as well.
What music do you listen to these days?
I don't listen to music anymore. I know that sounds terrible. I watch the news, I watch television a lot, but occasionally I'll turn on an awards show, and you see who's doing wonderful stuff and varied stuff. I can't do hip-hop. I'm convinced I'm too white for that, I don't have the feel and I can't do it, so I don't try to do something because it's popular. People like Pharrell, who write beautiful ballads, I can see doing something with - he doesn't know about this, incidentally, I don't care if you write it, but this is not like something we've discussed. But there are people like that that I would love to work with that are capable of meeting me halfway from what they do to what I do.
34th Annual Kenny Rogers Once Again It's Christmas -
Christmas & Hits Tour Dates
11/11-14 - Niagara Falls, Ontario - Niagara Fallsview Casino Avalon
11/17 - Moncton, New Brunswick - Casino New Brunswick*
11/18 - Truro, Nova Scotia - Rath Eastlink Centre*
11/20 - Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador - Pepsi Centre*
11/21 - Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador - Clarenville Events Centre*
11/22 - St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador - Mile One Centre*
11/27 - Northfield, Ohio - Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield*
11/28 - Merrillville, Ind. - Star Plaza Theatre*
11/30 - Terre Haute, Ind. - Hulman Center - Indiana State*
12/02 - Norfolk, Neb. - Divots Conference Center
12/04 - Bowler, Wis. - North Star Mohican Casino Showroom*
12/05 - Battle Creek, Mich. - Firekeepers Casino - Event Center*
12/06 - Windsor, Ontario - The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor*
12/08 - Ashland, Ky. - Paramount Arts Center*
12/10 - New Brunswick, N.J. - State Theatre*
12/11 - White Plains, N.Y. - Westchester County Center*
12/12 - Uncasville, Conn. - Mohegan Sun Arena*
12/13 - Bangor, Maine - Cross Insurance Center*
12/15 - Hagerstown, Md. - Maryland Theater*
12/16 - Roanoke, Va. - Berglund Performing Arts Theatre*
12/17 - Verona, N.Y. - Turning Stone Resort & Casino - Event Center
12/18 - King of Prussia, Pa. - Valley Forge Casino Resort*
12/19 - Englewood, N.J. - Bergen Performing Arts Center
12/20 - Concord, N.H. - The Capitol Center For The Arts
12/22 - Erie, Pa. - Warner Theater*
12/23 - Westbury, N.Y. - NYCB Theatre at Westbury*
* INDICATES VIP PACKAGES AVAILABLE
