When times get hard, it is great to see the world come together to still celebrate, even if they come together virtually.
The legendary Kenny Rogers, at the age of 81, passed away on March 20th, 2020 from natural causes. During these hard times, during social distancing, fans and peers could not come together to celebrate his life. So, instead the television channel CMT, put together “CMT Giants: Kenny Rogers”.
This special program was able to bring his fans and friends together virtually to celebrate his life. It was also used as a fundraiser for MusiCares to raise money to support struggling musicians during these hard times. Fellow artists performed Kenny Roger’s classic songs.
Kenny Rogers supported MusiCares for years and was even their person of the year. The choice of this charity for the tribute was right on point. Kenny would have loved it.
One amazing performance from the tribute was Lady Antebellum’s cover of “Islands in the Stream.”
“Islands in the Stream” was Kenny Roger’s first duet with Dolly Parton. They recorded the song in 1983 and it was a smash hit, hitting number one on the charts. Rogers and Parton won single of the year from the song at the Academy of Country Music Awards. The song’s popularity furthered Dolly and Kenny collaborating over the years.
Fun fact: Did you know that the Bee Gees wrote “Islands in the Streams” originally for Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross as an R&B song?
“Islands in the Stream” was a perfect fit for Lady Antebellum to honor Kenny with because their trio already had a woman and a male to perform together! The challenge for Lady Antebellum was having to perform their parts completely separate. The members are all staying at home separately, so they had to perform separately.
Do not worry, Lady Antebellum was able to create an amazing performance virtually!
Lady Antebellum including members of their band to cover the classic song as it was originally created. This was not going to be an acoustic version to honor Kenny, they gave him the performance he deserved.
“Islands in the Stream” has been covered over 50 times by fellow artists. It has been created in different languages and genres. This popularity has allowed most people to know the song even if they did not listen to Kenny Rogers. Barry Gibbs worked with Kenny Rogers on the song.
Kenny Rogers wrote in his memoir about the experience,
“I had worked on the song with Barry for at least four days, something I was not used to doing. I finally told him I didn’t even like the song anymore. Without breaking a stride he raised one finger in the air and said, ‘What we need is Dolly Parton.’”
The rest is music history.
Watching Lady Antebellum’s tribute to Kenny Rogers, it is hard not to sing along with every word, especially the chorus,
“Islands in the stream
That is what we are
No one in between
How can we be wrong
Sail away with me
To another world
And we rely on each other, ah ha
From one lover to another, ah ha.”
During these difficult times Lady Antebellum created a performance that could let everyone escape for a bit, while honoring a country legend. Many agreed commenting,
“R.I.P. Kenny. Feeling Hillary’s energy in this cut. Great tribute to a legend. Well done!”
“Thank you Lady Antebellum….this is what everyone needs and you all covered this song great!!!! thank you again. RIP Mr. Kenny Rogers thank you for all your music.”
Watch the beautiful tribute below.
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