Kenny Rogers to retire from music

Kenny Rogers isn't just calling it a wrap on the road with his current tour. He'll be done with music - at least making public music -- altogether.

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," he 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."

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."

The 78-year-old singer has shows booked until April 8 in Danville, Kentucky. He has no second thoughts about his decision, 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," he said. "I've changed the show totally. The show's about an hour and a half long, and I go through a chronological look at my life that includes all my music. 

For me to go back and recap my First Edition experience, the group I was with called the Scholars and my jazz period with [late vocalist] Bobby Doyle is very exciting for me." The format has also led Rogers to revamp the annual holiday show he'll be putting on later this year.

Rogers 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.

Credit: Billboard