Islands in the Stream

This was written by The Bee Gees as an R&B song. On March 10, 2009 when Maurice Gibb appeared on the BBC Breakfast programme, he explained that it was written for Marvin Gaye, however it was recorded instead as a duet by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton with the Gibb Brothers also contributing vocals. The Bee Gees performed the song themselves on their 1998 live album One Night Only.

The title came from an Ernest Hemingway story which was published in 1970. It was the first of his books to be published posthumously.

"Islands in the Stream" won the 1985 American Music Awards winner for Favorite Country Single. Twenty years later it topped CMT's poll of the best country duets of all time.

It would be seventeen years before another Country song, Lonestar's "Amazed," reached the summit of the Hot 100. "Islands in the Stream" also topped the Australian charts for 10 weeks.

Former Fugee Pras Michel's 1998 hit, "Ghetto Superstar (That Is What You Are)" was based around this song.

A version of this song was recorded by Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon from the BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey plus Welsh legend Tom Jones and Bee Gee Robin Gibb for the 2009 Comic Relief charity appeal. When Comic Relief asked permission to release a cover of this song, Gibb told the Radio Times that he had no qualms. He said: "We have one of the most successful song catalogues in the world. When you've got a catalogue that big, you have to make sure that people don't abuse it by changing lyrics or using songs for derogatory reasons. Most people respect that and stay true to the original as best they can. This is for a great cause and they've done a great job."

The Comic Relief version of this song topped the UK chart, with the result that the 68-years-and 9 months-old Tom Jones became the oldest living act ever to have a #1 single in the UK. The previous record holder was Louis Armstrong, who was a mere 66 years-old when "What A Wonderful World" reached the peak position in 1968. This also meant that a song written by the Bee Gees has been #1 in the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s, something no other song-writing partnership has achieved.

OK, here's the joke associated with this song:
What do you call Dolly Parton lying down in a bathtub?