Modern Country Music Forced Kenny Rogers Into Retirement
Kenny Rogers is hanging up his country music hat with a farewell tour, and it seems that today's country music is to blame.
"I think country music is whatever country people will buy," Rogers tells Variety of the genre. "And I think people don’t buy certain kinds of country anymore. So what happens is that in their efforts to do something different, to set themselves apart from me and the other guys before me, they took it to a different place."
"Country is very healthy right now – they’re bringing in a lot of kids," adds the legend, "But it’s not a type of music that I prefer or that I would want to do, and that’s why I’m getting out."
Rogers has dabbled in several genres of music — including rockabilly, pop and jazz — and the 77-year-old says he's accomplished everything he's wanted to throughout his 60-plus years in the music business.
"It might be a terrible thing to say, but I feel like I’ve done everything I set out to do,” he admits. "I don’t really have any challenges unless I want to go out and compete with new country, and I don’t have any desire to do that."
Earlier this week, Rogers was honored at the CMT Artists of the Year ceremony. He was presented with the Artist of a Lifetime Award.
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