American country singer-songwriter Kenny Rogers has died at the age of 81.
His family announced he passed away peacefully at his home from natural causes.
Rogers's entertainment career spanned more than six decades, with chart-topping hits including The Gambler and Islands In The Stream.
His family is planning a small private service out of concern for the coronavirus pandemic, and will celebrate his life publicly with friends and fans at a later date.
The Houston-born performer with the husky voice and silver beard sold tens of millions of records and won three Grammys.
He was also the star of TV movies based on The Gambler and other songs, making him a superstar in the 1970s and '80s.
Rogers thrived for some 60 years before he retired from touring in 2017 at the age of 79.
Despite his crossover success, he always preferred to be thought of as a country singer.
"You either do what everyone else is doing and you do it better, or you do what no one else is doing and you don't invite comparison," Rogers told The Associated Press in 2015.
"And I chose that way because I could never be better than Johnny Cash or Willie [Nelson] or Waylon [Jennings] at what they did.
"So I found something that I could do that didn't invite comparison to them. And I think people thought it was my desire to change country music. But that was never my issue."
More to come.
