Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time and author Jim Adams from A Unique Title For Me is our current guest host. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.

The theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is “Promise/Oath/Vow.”

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The music world lost one of its brightest stars on March 20, 2020.

Kenneth Ray “Kenny” Rogers passed away under hospice care of natural causes. He was 81.

In a career which spanned more than sixty years, Kenny moved from teenage rock’n’roll through psychedelic rock to become a hit country-pop crossover artist of the 1970s and 1980s. His songs appeared in top-selling motion pictures and television movies, including movies based on some of his songs and, in which he starred.

The multi-award winner was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. He worked with some of the biggest names in the record industry, charted more than 60 top 40 hit singles (including two number ones—Lady and Islands in the Stream), and sold more than 165 million records.

My love for Kenny Rogers goes all the way back to 1967 when he was with the First Edition and had hits like Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) and Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town… and my age was in single digits. 😀  He recorded songs that were special to me in every decade after that, especially the 80s when I met and married my late husband.

None of the words of this week’s prompt actually appear in the title or lyrics of 1981’s Through the Years, but it was a very special song for us. The song looks back at a relationship “Through The Years” and mentions the ups and downs, but the singer proclaims to his loved one: I’m so glad I stayed right here with you / Through the years.

Rest in peace, Kenny, and thank you for the music through the years.

FUN FACTS

• • Kenny Rogers topped the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual weeks in the United States alone.
  • Rogers was the fourth of eight children and is said to be of Irish and Native American heritage.
  • On his 50th anniversary TV special, Rogers performed a version of Through the Years with his two friends Lionel Richie and Dolly Parton which also included archive footage of him working with both on various projects through the years.
  • Through the Years reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1982, remaining in the Top 40 for eleven weeks and went to number one on the adult contemporary chart, becoming Rogers’ fifth single to top this chart.

Enjoy!

See my Song Lyric Sunday selection for Nesie’s Place!

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Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.

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