They reunited for Rogers’ retirement celebration.
The legendary Kenny Rogers has officially retired from the music world, and he said farewell with a massive concert in his honor at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Wednesday night. More than 20 different artists took the stage to celebrate Rogers’ career, while Rogers and his wife, Wanda, sat on stage and took it all in.
But perhaps the most anticipated moment of the night was Rogers’ duet with Dolly Parton. According to Billboard, they played a video of their 1985 performance of “Real Love,” then took to the stage to tell funny stories about their collaborations. The longtime friends and collaborators performed their 2013 song, “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” and serenaded Rogers with “I Will Always Love You.” “I know I’m artificial, but I like to think my heart’s real, and it may be the only thing real about me,” Parton said. “In my heart, I have a spot for you that’s never ever going to be touched by anybody else.”
Then the two performed their iconic duet, “Islands in the Stream,” before wrapping things up. “How about me and you go out like rock stars?” Parton asked on stage. The two dropped their microphones on stage and walked off with arms linked.
Rogers, 79, has said he always told himself he’d retire when he couldn’t put on a show “properly.” “Every day is not a holiday. You get out there [and] it’s hard, hard work. I can’t do it like I used to do it,” Rogers told Fox News. “And I swore that I’d do this until I started embarrassing myself.” And unlike other stars who come back after retiring, Rogers says this is for good—and he plans on devoting his resources to spending time with his wife and children.
But perhaps all is not lost for his fans. According to USA Today, Parton says she might still convince him to make music behind the scenes. “I’m just going to let him retire from the public and then we might even write some songs together, who knows?” Parton said. “Oh man,” Rogers replied. “I didn’t think of that.”
In an interview with The Today Show yesterday, the pair were asked why they never became a couple in real life.
“First of all, she’s hard to look at for me,” Rogers said. “I’m a believer that tension is better if you keep it than if you satisfy it. And then secondly, she said no to me.”
Parton’s reply? “I’m not his type. You know what, we were almost like brother and sister. And it would almost be like incest. So we just never went there.”
Via Country Living
