Kenny Rogers Saddens Fans By Announcing His Retirement, Consoles Them By Confirming One Final Tour [Video]

Kenny Rogers has decided to retire. The country music icon sent waves of disappointment among his fans, but added that he will be going on one final tour before he steps away from live music for good.

Country music legend Kenny Rogers chose to announce his intentions to retire during an appearance on NBC’s The Today Show. However, he quickly added that he won’t go away before a big “worldwide tour.” Rogers spoke about his decision.

“It’s happily sad or sadly happy. I’m going to do a big worldwide tour, and it’s going to be my last. I’m going to say goodbye at that point.”

Validating his reasons, Rogers added the following.

“I’ve done this long enough. Sometimes there’s a fine line between being driven and being selfish, and I think I crossed that line when I was younger. I really want to be there with my kids and my wife. I don’t see enough of them. And I have some things on my bucket list.”

Rogers was on the show to promote his new Christmas album, Once Again It’s Christmas. He will begin his annual Christmas tour on November 11. Roger is slated to travel through 26 cities, primarily on the eastern coast of the U.S. and Canada. His schedule is quite tight and is expected to end right before Christmas on December 23, reported Rolling Stone. Thereafter, he will embark on another world tour, which will be his last, before he retires.

Besides intending to spend more time with his family and live a little “outside of music,” Kenny Rogers hinted at completing his Bucket List, which is essentially another book of photography. 77-year-old Rogers, who was awarded an honorary master’s degree from Professional Photographers of America last year, already has a book titled Your Friends and Mine, which features portrait shots of many celebrities.

This time around, Rogers wants to focus on landscapes. Moreover, his fans are in for a treat since Rogers has a huge collection.

“There are probably 550 pictures, so there will be at least two books. One will be called American Beauty, and it’s all waterfalls and beautiful canyon shots. It’s really spectacular. And the other will be places I’ve been and things I’ve seen, and it’ll be pictures from China, Africa, Europe, and Switzerland— over the Alps in a helicopter.”

Kenny Rogers candidly revealed that he has been contemplating retirement for quite some time and knew it was on the horizon, but he had sworn to do this until, “I embarrassed myself,” he said, reported Taste of Country. He added that his mobility was hindered due to his advanced age. However, the ever-young artist promised one final live appearance after his tour wrapped.

[Image Credit | Rick Diamond / Getty Images]