Kenny Rogers’ Posthumous Album ‘Life Is Like a Song’ Is Coming – Billboard

The late Kenny Rogers‘ first posthumous album, Life Is Like a Song, is ready to launch June 2 by way of UMe.

Rogers, who notched a profitable profession in pop music with the band First Edition within the Nineteen Sixties after which transitioned into a solo nation music profession that finally earned him membership into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013, died on March 20, 2020, from pure causes on the age of 81.

Life Is Like a Song marks the primary non-holiday studio album from Rogers in a decade, and his solely non-compilation/non-reissued full-length album to be launched on vinyl since 1991. The undertaking will embody songs that have been deeply private to the late singer-songwriter, and will probably be out there digitally in addition to on CD and vinyl.

Curated and government produced by Rogers’ widow, Wanda Rogers, the album contains eight never-before-heard recordings, spanning from 2008 to 2011. A digital deluxe model of the undertaking will embody two bonus tracks: a cowl of the basic “At Last,” and the Buddy Hyatt-penned authentic “Say Hello to Heaven.”

“I think the record is fabulous, and it is going to make Kenny so proud,” stated Wanda Rogers by way of a assertion. “These songs are such a beautiful reminder of his love ‘for the feelings a song can make’ for a person. He would often say that he wanted his songs to be ‘what every man wants to say, and every woman wants to hear.’ I think there are a lot of those moments on this album. This is a very special record to me and our family because it really tells the story of our life together, and I feel his fans will also relate to it in a big way because it walks the listener through the seasons of life that we all experience in one way or another. There is joy, there is love, there is family, there is uncertainty, there is pain, there is faith … it’s emotional and real. This is the kind of music Kenny loved to make.”

Two songs from the album can be found now for streaming: “Love Is a Drug,” co-written by Rogers’ longtime musical companion and former New Christy Minstrels bandmate Kim Carnes, in addition to Rogers’ rendition of The Temptations’ hit “I Wish It Would Rain.”

The album additionally options a collaboration between Rogers and his longtime buddy and collaborator Dolly Parton, who collectively notched the enduring hit “Islands in the Stream.” In the mid-aughts, they teamed up once more for “Tell Me That You Love Me,” produced by Tony Brown. The music initially appeared on a 2009 compilation.

The album additionally contains Rogers’ rendition of the Lionel Richie-penned music “Goodbye,” which additionally beforehand appeared on the identical 2009 compilation. The album additionally options Rogers’ rendition of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight,” whereas “Am I Too Late,” initially recorded for Rogers’ 1977 album, Daytime Friends, will get reimagined as a duet with Kim Keyes.

Perhaps the fulcrum of the album is the beforehand unreleased “Catchin’ Grasshoppers,” a tribute to Rogers’ twin sons along with his spouse, Justin and Jordan. Written by Laura McCall Torno and Earl Torno, with manufacturing work from Rogers and Randy Dorman, the music honors Rogers’ youngsters and the recollections he made with them.

See the tracklist for Life Is Like a Song under: