Throughout three decades, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers recorded five duets together, from the 1980s through the 2010s, including “Real Love” in 1985, “Love is Strange,” the title track of Rogers’ 1990 album, “Undercover” from his 25th released Back to the Well in 2003.

In 1984, the duo also released a collaborative holiday album, Once Upon a Christmas, but it was the first song they worked on together a year earlier that always left Parton with the best memories, “Islands in the Stream.”

Written by the Bee Gees‘ Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, and Robin Gibb, “Islands in the Stream” was the lead single on Rogers’ 15th album, Eyes That See in the Dark, and went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Rogers’ second No. 1 since his 1980 hit, “Lady,” and another for Parton’s following “9 to 5” in 1981.

“You know how sometimes you get tired of singing something because it just becomes routine?” said Parton of their classic. “I would always lighten up when that particular song was due in the setlist.

It just always made everybody feel so good in the audience, and the audience always loved singing it. I never got tired of Kenny’s voice.”

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Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers perform together onstage at Brendan Byrne Arena (later Meadowlands Arena), East Rutherford, New Jersey, October 20, 1988. (Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)

“You Can’t Make Old Friends”

By 2013, Parton and Rogers reunited for what would become their final duet together. The title track of Roger’s 2014 album, “You Can’t Make Old Friends” was written by Ryan Hanna King, Caitlyn Smith, and Don Schlitz—the latter who wrote Rogers’ 1978 hit “The Gambler”—and centered around a lifelong friendship, much like the one he had with Parton.

What will I do when you are gone?
Who’s gonna tell me the truth?
Who’s gonna finish the stories I start
The way you always do?

How will I sing when you are gone?
Cause it won’t sound the same
Who will join in on those harmony parts
When I call your name?

Dolly Refused to Sing at Rogers’ Funeral

Rogers said “You Can’t Make Old Friends” was the most emotional song he recorded with Parton. “It’s very poignantly sad, I think,” said Rogers in 2013.

“I love the song, but it deals very close to reality. Dolly told me ‘I want you to know I can’t sing at your funeral.’ I told her ‘So, you’re assuming that I’m going to go first.’”

Rogers added, “The more we did that song together, it just said some wonderful things like ‘Who’s gonna finish the stories I start the way you used to do?’ With old friends, you know each other well enough to do that – to finish a story.”

Years after the two recorded the song, Rogers retired from performing due to health issues in 2018. “Now I can’t hardly sing it,” shared Parton of their final duet years after Rogers died in 2020 at age 81.

“You can make new friends that feel like old friends, but there’s just something about the people that have spent years together,” added Parton.

“You have a history, and you learn about each other, inside and out. I knew Kenny very well. We’re very similar. We’re like brother and sister really. He’s up there singing. I know that.”

Photo: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images