Billy Currington Explains his Lifelong Admiration for Kenny Rogers
"I just continued to fall in love with his music over the years.” Currington shares.
Growing up in Georgia, Billy Currington had many musical influences surrounding him, most of which came from the music his mom listened to around the house. His favorite was Kenny Rogers, who will soon retire from the road to spend more time with his family at home. But back in Rogers heyday, Currington remembers seeing the iconic superstar as he toured with his “Islands In The Stream” collaborator Dolly Parton.
“I already knew most of the songs because she had the 33 1/3s and played all of his music so much. Then, of course, I started playing it even when she wasn’t around. When I first saw him walk out on stage, that was a magical moment for me as a kid because … I still look at people I idolize like that now,” Currington told Sounds Like Nashville and other media recently. “It’s just like, ‘Wow, there they are.’ I’ve been listening to them for so long. I don’t know, just them together, the ‘Islands in the Stream,’ I just wanted to be that guy. I just continued to fall in love with his music over the years.”
That night went on to change Currington’s life, encouraging him to chase his dreams of releasing dynamic and interesting songs, much like those in Rogers’ genre-bending catalog.
“[What] I loved mostly about Kenny was that he’s so universal. He could sing ‘The Gambler’ and all those really country-type songs, but then he could sing ‘Lady’ and all the pop-type sounding songs, and that he was able to do that on one genre of music, which was mostly country radio,” said Currington. “I really admired that, and I always wanted to be like him. He parted his hair in the middle, and that’s what I did as a kid. All my pictures as a kid, I’ve got this part straight down the middle in feathers.”
While Currington may not part his hair down the middle any longer, he still follows Rogers’ example of creating stand-out music as he just notched his 11th No.1 song with “It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To.” He’s currently back at country radio with the sexy “Do I Make You Wanna,” from his Summer Forever album.
