Kenny Rogers’ Family and Friends Gather for His Memorial Service, Two Years After His Death
Sunday (March 20) marked the two-year anniversary of genre-crossing superstar Kenny Rogers' death, and it was a momentous day for the singer's friends and family, who were finally able to gather for a memorial ceremony.
Rogers — who was 81 at the time of his death — died right at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shutdowns made it impossible for his family to plan a memorial service right away. Now, after waiting for two years, a small group of Rogers' loved ones gathered at Atlanta, Ga.'s Oakland Ceremony to pay their respects and share stories about the singer.
A photo from the event shows Rogers' widow, Wanda Rogers, addressing the crowd underneath a monument bearing the singer's name.
Two of Rogers' longtime touring partners, Linda Davis (who is also mom to Lady A's Hillary Scott) and Billy Dean, hosted the outdoor event, which featured 15 speakers in total. Of course, music was a focal point of the memorial service: "Amazing Grace" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" were two classics that featured during the event.
Though the service itself was private, Rogers' family welcomes fans to come and visit the singer's grave at Oakland Cemetery. He is buried in Lot 599 of Bobby Jones' Neighborhood; further details on his final resting place are available at the cemetery's website.
At the reception, memorial-goers got a first viewing of a new lyric video for Rogers' "Goodbye," a song that re-surfaced in the days following the singer's death and was sent to country radio in late March of 2020.
One of his last recordings the singer did during his time on Capitol Records, Rogers cut "Goodbye" after putting out his 2006 Water & Bridges album. The song was written by Lionel Richie, and it was one of three previously unreleased tracks to appear on Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years, a compilation released by Time-Life in 2009.
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