Rogers shares memories and music in holiday tour
Singer Kenny Rogers, 73, laughs when he recalls a comical Christmas moment from his childhood in Texas — catching his father, Edward Floyd Rogers, peeking into wrapped Christmas gifts when the patriarch thought his wife and eight children were safely out of the house.
“My father was a quiet, reserved man,” Rogers said in a telephone interview. “And at times, it didn't really seem like he was enjoying the holiday. We came home from church one day, and there was my father, all the way under the Christmas tree, opening the ends of his wrapped presents.”
Rogers laughs aloud at the memory.
“He could have gotten himself electrocuted under there! But he really was enjoying the holiday season,” Rogers said.
Rogers, who has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide and has won eight Academy of Country Music Awards, three Grammys and five Country Music Awards, has been touring the country with his 30th annual “Christmas & Hits Tour.”
The show includes traditional and original holiday songs, along with many of Rogers' greatest hits such as “Lady,” “Through the Years” and “Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town.”
The tour arrives at Waukegan's Genesee Theatre on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
“The first part of the show will be the hits — then in the second half, it's all Christmas,” Rogers said.
Along with the music, Rogers will tell stories about the history of the selections. Special guest, singer Billy Dean, sings some of his country hits. And the Waukegan High School Varsity Choir and students from Waukegan's Cooke Magnet School will perform.
“But if anyone doesn't want to hear the Christmas songs, they can stay for the hits and leave at halftime,” Rogers laughed.
Traditional Christmas songs like “O Holy Night,” “Joy to the World” and “White Christmas” are part of the production.
“It's all about the spirit of Christmas — and it's for the kids in the audience, so they can keep alive the story of the birth of Christ,” Rogers said. “We need to keep it alive. Nowadays, people don't always want to say ‘Merry Christmas.' They'll say ‘Happy Holidays' instead. But it's the Christmas season. We don't want to lose that.”
He completes his Christmas tour on Dec. 23 in New York, and then heads home to spend Christmas with wife Wanda and 7-year-old twin boys, Justin and Jordan.
“Christmas still has that mystique for them,” Rogers said of his sons. “They are writing their notes to Santa.”
The new year holds numerous projects for Rogers, who has been writing his autobiography for a 2012 publication while traveling on the “Christmas & Hits Tour.”
“I love to do the writing, but I hate the typing,” Rogers said. “I type everything in caps, and then someone else goes through it.”
“It's been fun reliving my life, looking back at all of the little details,” he added.
Other projects for 2012 include the release of Rogers' new photography book, a collection of American-themed photographs that the artist snapped as he toured the nation.
A new album is in the works too, Rogers said.
“There is so much going on,” Rogers said. “I love what I do, and life is good.”
Kenny Rogers' “Christmas & Hits Tour”
<b>When:</b> 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13
<b>Where:</b> Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee, St., Waukegan.
<b>Tickets:</b> $39.50-$79.50. Call (847) 263-6300 or (800) 982-2787 or visit <a href="http://www.ticketmaster.com" target="_blank">ticketmaster.com</a>. For information on Kenny Rogers, see <a href="http://www.kennyrogers.com" target="_blank">kennyrogers.com</a>.