International music star Kenny Rogers is staging his final world tour at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Thursday evening. The Country Music Hall of Famer, turning 78 this August 21, is known for the hits “Lady,” “Coward of the Country,” “You Decorated My Life” and “Through the Years.”
Below is an account of the revelry, presented by Ovation Productions, as it happens:
Timestamp: 8:40 PM — The Big Dome is now filled to the brim to witness Rogers’ farewell concert.
Serving as tonight’s front act is OPM artist Aiza Seguerra, who sang smash hits including a downtempo version of “Pagdating ng Panahon.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BI9vwIoDe6V/?taken-by=lizadino&hl=en
9:00 PM — Kenny Rogers is now up on stage, hyping up the crowd eager to witness him sing his most memorable songs.
The show is on to a great start as the singing sensation shares anecdotes about the earlier years of his musical journey. He recounts that he got his screen name “Kenny Rogers” after being told that his birth name, Kenneth Donald Rogers, is too formal.
He then performs Walking My Baby Back Home, a jazz standard he usually sang with a group he was once part of, The Bobby Doyle Three.
Afterwards, he welcomes Linda Davis on the Araneta stage. His good friend from the country music scene smoothly sang It’s Only A Paper Moon.
9: 17 PM — Rogers starts doing a medley of his greatest hits — Through The Years, You Decorated My Life and She Believes In Me. The performance receives delightful applause from the audience, who sang their hearts out along with the retiring country music icon.
Following the stunning act is another set of songs, this time, those coming from the 60s back when he formed the group “The First Edition,” which was later renamed as “Kenny Rogers and The First Edition.”
9:30 PM — Rogers lead the crowd to a poignant moment as he introduces a song co-written by King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Inviting the crowd to once again sing with him, he performs We Are the World.
WATCH: Kenny Rogers gives his heartwarming rendition of "We Are The World" pic.twitter.com/gdrqC6DRD3
— Wish FM 107.5 (@wish1075) August 11, 2016
“Not only did the best voices [made the song great], it was done with a great purpose…it was done to try help the people who couldn’t help themselves.”
Further making the night more nostalgic, Rogers performs Love Lifted Me, a song he said his fans personally requested. “When I learned I am doing my farewell tour, I gathered my fans and asked them what would they want me to sing out of my 75 albums, and I was amazed by how many people came back with this song,” he shares.
9:35 PM – Calling it as “the song that changed my life in music,” Rogers — along with the participative spectators — sings Lucille.
9:42 PM — In a tribute performance to fellow country star Dottie West, he performs Every Time Two Fools Collide. He describes her as an artist who is “such a joy to work with.”
9:51 PM – Kenny turns the energy up as he sings his classic Coward of the County. The crowd just can’t help but to clap and sing, “‘Promise me, son, not to do the things I’ve done/ Walk away from trouble if you can…/Son, you don’t have to fight to be a man.”
Excerpts from Love Will Turn You Around and Heroes follow.
10:00 — Kenny surely got this night! An hour after he first came up on stage, he now sings a romantic duet with guest Linda Davis. According to him, We’ve Got Tonight, which he originally recorded with Sheena Easton, is a favorite.
“Out of all the duets that I’ve done, this is my favorite song.”
Kenny Rogers and Linda Davis perform a duet of "We've Got Tonight" pic.twitter.com/C6IV0Flq8P
— Wish FM 107.5 (@wish1075) August 11, 2016
10:10 PM — The heart-rending, honest lyrics and sweet sounding melody of You Are So Beautiful fill the Big Dome. Rogers, now on his 60th year in the music industry, dedicates the song to the crowd and to his treasured children.
10:14 PM — Earning another round of cheers from the Araneta crowd, Kenny sings his iconic hits The Gambler and Lady back-to-back.
10:19PM — The atmosphere is at its most jovial vibe here at The Big Dome as Rogers and the rest of the band fire up the stage with Islands in The Stream.
10:22 PM — “It’s a strange thing, that after 60 years [of doing music], I will now wake up and I won’t have to do [music] anymore,” Rogers introduces before singing You Can’t Make Old Friends.
10:30 PM — Rogers says his final words after performing Blaze of Glory with Davis, “I thank you guys for the support for the past 60 years. Thank you so much, everybody here, I really appreciate it. I will miss you, guys!
The hyped up song is very much fitting to cap off a great farewell concert from the well-adored music legend:
Let’s go out in a blaze of glory
All good things must end
Like two heroes in a story
Let’s go out like we came in
In a blaze of glory
Kenny Rogers and Linda Davis cap off the farewell concert with "Blaze of Glory" pic.twitter.com/FsJGkjkOd6
— Wish FM 107.5 (@wish1075) August 11, 2016
Congratulations, Kenny Rogers, and thank you for the music!
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