Kenny Rogers to Retire From Music After ‘The Gambler’s Last Deal’ Tour

J.G. Taruc

September 27, 2016

• 

  Photo credit: newsbake.com

  American singer Kenny Rogers is set to retire from music after his current ‘The Gambler’s Last Deal’ Tour according to Billboard.

  Rogers, whose last album ‘You Can’t Make Old Friends’, came out in 2013, told Billboard during a conference call with reporters that he has no future recording plans. “I’ve done everything I set out to do,” Rogers explained. “Every goal I’ve set, I’ve done that, and there’s a point where you have to say, ‘I’ve had my turn. Let someone else have it,’ and that’s kind of where I am. It’s not that I dislike music; it’s just that I can’t keep doing this and do what I want to do, which is spend time with my family.”

  The 78-year-old singer had no second thoughts about his decision to retire but the actual act of saying goodbye is proving to be a bit harder than he expected. “I thought it was going to be easy because I’m so tired and it’s not as easy for me to get around. I’m not as mobile as I used to be,” Rogers said.

  Rogers reiterated that his main goal for retiring is the 12-year-old twin sons he has with fifth wife Wanda Miller, whom he married in 1997. “I have two older boys and I didn’t get to spend this time with my older boys, and I resent it because it’s a very special time in a kid’s age,” he said. “My boys are playing football this year, and we went to watch a game and they were so excited about us being there, and that’s the kind of thing that as a parent you want to be part of as much as you can.”

  He also acknowledged that there’s been some filming and taping of his farewell show, but he predicted that it will be “more for documentation than for…release.” But the exercise of doing a final tour has given him a chance to reflect on nearly 60 years of recording and even more than that of performing.

• COMMENTS