On This Day in 1983, Dolly Parton Turned Another Artist’s Song Into a Country Classic for the Ages. ML
On this day (October 29) in 1983, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “Islands in the Stream.” The song spent two weeks at No. 1 on the all-genre chart. It also topped the country and adult contemporary tallies, giving the duo a massive crossover hit.
“Islands in the Stream” didn’t start as a duet. In fact, the song didn’t start its life as a country song. Instead, the Bee Gees–Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb–wrote the song for Marvin Gaye, who turned it down. Barry Gibb, who was producing Rogers’ album, Eyes That See in the Dark, at the time, pitched the song to Rogers. According to Songfacts, they tried and failed for days to get the vocals right. Finally, Gibb decided that the song needed to be a duet.
Eyes That See in the Dark was Rogers’ first album with RCA Records. Parton had been on the label for more than a decade. Fortunately, she was in the studio that day. As a result, Rogers’ management enlisted her for the session. The addition of her voice was exactly what the song needed.
Kenny Rogers Reflects on Dolly Parton and “Islands in the Stream”
When Kenny Rogers was in the studio attempting to record “Islands in the Stream,” he didn’t know Dolly Parton. They had met in passing, but had never gotten to know one another. The recording session and subsequent live performances of the song sparked their decades-long friendship.
“Once she came in, the song was never the same. I mean, it was really that different when she sang with me than when I sang it by myself. It had a different meaning, a different set of values to it,” Rogers recalled. “Musically, it was so much better.”
Live performances of “Islands in the Stream” let fans see what made the duet so special. Rogers and Parton had the kind of chemistry that some couples wish they had. However, they were never romantically involved. “We flirted with each other for thirty years,” Rogers said. “We did some massive flirting in front of the nation, but there was never anything more than that.”
The pair did multiple duets after “Islands in the Stream,” including “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” which was written for them about their relationship.
