Kenny Rogers, one of the most successful crossover artists in American music history, would have turned 88 today. Born Kenneth Donald Ray Rogers on 21 August 1938 in a federal housing project in Houston's Fourth Ward, he grew up in a multicultural community that exposed him to country, pop, jazz and R&B, laying the groundwork for a genre-spanning six-decade career that made him one of the best-selling recording artists of all time.

Rogers began as a rock and folk musician, notably fronting the First Edition before launching a solo career that produced the 1977 hit "Lucille" and later chart-toppers including "The Gambler", "Lady" and duets with Dolly Parton and Dottie West. He charted 120 singles, spent over 200 weeks at the top of the US pop and country charts, sold more than 100 million records, and won three Grammys, five CMA awards and eight ACM awards, alongside acting roles in film and television. He retired from music in 2017 and died on 20 March 2020 at the age of 81, having battled Alzheimer's disease and bladder cancer.