‘The Gambler’ Kenny Rogers announces farewell tour, has new Christmas album

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – “The Gambler” Kenny Rogers says he’s retiring from touring and will do one last worldwide farewell tour after five decades on the road.

Rogers, 77, says in a video message on his website that he wants to spend more time with his two young sons and his wife, Wanda.

“In my book I wrote, ‘There’s a fine line between being selfish and being driven,’ and I think I crossed that line a lot when I was younger,” Rogers said. “And I didn’t get a chance to spend a lot of time with my older boys and I regret that now.”

The Grammy-winning singer will be on the road through the end of the year promoting his latest Christmas album, “Once Again It’s Christmas,” and will do a final world tour in 2016 with cities and dates to be announced later.

Rogers, whose career has spanned country, pop, Christian and folk genres and over 65 albums, said he’s still thinking about making new music, maybe a duets album.

“I found that everybody sings better as a duet,” said Rogers, who famously made “Islands in the Stream” with Dolly Parton a huge pop song.

Rogers will start his Christmas tour in November in Canada.

His album is a mix of classic holiday tunes like “Little Drummer Boy” and “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” a few new songs and plenty of great duets with singers like Alison Krauss, Jennifer Nettles and the a cappella group Home Free.

“There’s a faction of people that always love Christmas music,” Rogers said. “Music has always been the great memory maker of all times.”

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Online:

http://kennyrogers.com