Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’ 6 best music moments, from ‘Islands in the Stream’ to concert pranks

Kathleen PerriconeTue, August 25, 2026 at 11:56 PM UTC

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Dolly Parton and Kenny RogersCredit: GAB Archive/Redferns/Getty

A match made in country-pop music heaven, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers first came together in 1983 for one of the greatest duets of all time, “Islands in the Stream.”

But it was only the beginning of a beautiful friendship that was underscored by world tours, TV specials, even a best-selling Christmas album — sometimes with Rogers’ name taking top-billing. Parton was unfazed.

Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers performing ‘Islands in the Stream’ at CMT’s ‘100 Greatest Duets’ in 2005Credit: Ed Rode/WireImage

“We’re on the same mental level, and we don’t feel one of us is better than the other,” she told journalist Marc Minnelli in 1985 while promoting their HBO special Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Together. “His name comes first because he’s the hottest thing in the business today. The time I’ve spent working with Kenny has been the best time I’ve ever spent with anybody doing anything.”

Beyond the platinum records, the two superstars forged a friendship that would last for four decades until his death in 2020.

“I loved Kenny with all my heart and my heart’s broken,” Parton said in a video tribute. “A big ol’ chunk has gone with him today.”

With the passing of Parton on Tuesday, Aug. 25, we relive the magic of Dolly & Kenny (or Kenny & Dolly) with six of their best musical moments.

“What we need is Dolly Parton”

For his 15th studio album, 1983’s Eyes That See in the Dark, Rogers collaborated with Barry Gibb and recorded a song the Bee Gees originally wrote for Diana Ross, “Islands in the Stream.” After four days of struggling with the solo track in the studio, “I finally told him I didn’t even like the song anymore,” Rogers recounted in his 2012 memoir, Luck or Something Like It. “Pondering this for a split second, Barry had an epiphany. Without breaking stride he raised one finger in the air and said, ‘What we need is Dolly Parton.’”

Forty-five minutes later, Rogers recalled, “Dolly marches through the door and changes my life forever.” As luck would have it, the “Jolene” singer happened to be in Los Angeles and his manager Ken Kragan convinced her to join Rogers in the studio “without a lot of hemming and hawing. The minute she started singing, we all knew this was going to be special.”

Indeed, the duet became a Top 10 hit around the world, knocking Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” out of the No. 1 spot in the U.S. charts. Over the decades, “Islands in the Stream” became a staple on Rogers and Parton’s joint tours. In 2017, they performed it for the last time at his farewell concert, All in For the Gambler.

“We’ve Got Tonight... who needs Sheena Easton?”

During their 1985 tour, a nightly highlight was Parton joining Rogers for “We’ve Got Tonight,” his duet with Sheena Easton. The blonde superstar would make her grand entrance just as she came in on the second verse, singing solo as she walked towards Rogers onstage.

During one particular performance, as they each took a line in the chorus, Parton cheekily changed a lyric: After Rogers sang, “We’ve got tonight,” she should have replied, “Who needs tomorrow” — but instead joked, “Who needs Sheena Easton?”

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When in Arkansas...

Five years later, Parton pulled another prank on Rogers during a performance of “We’ve Got Tonight” at the University of Arkansas, the home stadium of the Razorbacks. Backstage, she spotted “a big old Razorback hog head” mask and couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a laugh.

“So when the lights came on, I was standing at the top of the podium… and it was this hog singing,” Parton recalled. “The whole crowd went wild because I had the Razorbacks hat on in Arkansas. Kenny lost it… all the way through the show, every time Kenny would think about it, he’d start laughing.”

Parton recounted the story at his 2017 farewell concert, All in for The Gambler.

“I didn’t notice [the mask] for 30 seconds,” Rogers joked, as she slapped his knee. “I thought that was just her.”

“Dirty jokes” to remember

Parton’s first holiday album, Once Upon a Christmas, was another Rogers collaboration and the two filmed a promotional TV special for CBS, Kenny & Dolly: A Christmas to Remember.

“In between takes Dolly was telling me some of the dirtiest jokes I have ever heard,” Rogers revealed in his memoir. “The director, Bob Giraldi, asked us if we would like to take a break. Dolly said, ‘No, thank you, I’m out of jokes anyway.’ That’s the kind of relationship it’s been since day one.”

“Real Love” and real friendship

Parton and Rogers made beautiful music together, but never in the romantic sense. Their second duet, “Real Love,” off Parton’s 1985 album of the same name, leaned into the gossip about the two (who were both married at the time) and went straight to the top of the country music charts.

In 2013, Roger and Parton celebrated the 30th anniversary of their musical marriage with “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” off his final album.

“It was just something about my and Kenny’s chemistry with each other, our friendship, people really sense what we really feel,” explained Parton, who also put the song on her 2015 album Blue Smoke. “There’s different kinds of soulmates… with Kenny I just see him and smile.”

Dolly will always love Kenny

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house at Rogers’ star-studded farewell concert in 2017 when Parton expressed her feelings for her longtime friend and duet partner in a song, “I Will Always Love You,” which she wrote in 1974 (popularized by Whitney Houston in 1992 for The Bodyguard soundtrack).

“I know I’m artificial, but I like to think my heart is real, and that’s probably the only thing that’s real about me,” she joked to Rogers. “But in that heart of mine, I have a spot for you that’s never ever going to be touched by anybody else, and I’m going to hold you there forever.”

on Entertainment Weekly

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”