{"id":5213,"date":"2026-08-27T14:34:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T18:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=5213"},"modified":"2026-08-27T14:34:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T18:34:47","slug":"kenny-rogers-almost-gave-up-on-islands-in-the-stream-then-dolly-parton-rescued-the-hit-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/kenny-rogers-almost-gave-up-on-islands-in-the-stream-then-dolly-parton-rescued-the-hit-song\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenny Rogers Almost Gave Up on \u201cIslands In The Stream\u201d, Then Dolly Parton Rescued the Hit Song"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIslands In The Stream\u201d, the colossal 1983 duet by Kenny Rogers and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/the-little-known-person-behind-jolene-by-dolly-parton\/\">Dolly Parton<\/a>, almost didn\u2019t happen. The hit song, named after an Ernest Hemingway novel and penned by the Bee Gees, describes an easy romance. Yet the recording process was anything but.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Originally intended for Marvin Gaye, Barry Gibb suggested it to Rogers when he began producing the country star\u2019s album, <em>Eyes That See In The Dark<\/em>. However, Rogers, one of the music world\u2019s biggest-selling crooners, struggled to sing it. After four arduous days trying to capture a vocal take, Rogers was ready to give up on the song. Then Gibb proposed turning it into a duet. \u201cWhat we need is Dolly Parton,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/facts\/kenny-rogers-and-dolly-parton\/islands-in-the-stream\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers - Islands In the Stream (Official Audio)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UaNGtgYwSsU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Enter Dolly<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rogers\u2019s manager invited Parton to the session, and there, in just a few hours, she helped transform the Bee Gees\u2019 R&amp;B tune into a soft rock staple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cJust for them to even think of me. It\u2019s like Barry said, they said they tried to find the right people, they didn\u2019t know what they were going to do with the song, almost dumped it. And then Barry asked Kenny if he knew a girl named Dolly Parton,\u201d she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smoothradio.com\/artists\/dolly-parton\/interview-islands-stream-kenny-rogers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Baby, when I met you there was peace unknown,<br>I set out to get you with a fine-tooth comb.<br>I was soft inside,<br>There was something going on<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Gibb brothers sang backing vocals behind Rogers and Parton, who harmonize about a romance that seems of nature. And that\u2019s exactly what it sounds like in their voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;\u201cIslands In The Stream\u201d topped both the country and pop charts and remains a touchstone ballad for both artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Islands in the stream,<br>That is what we are.<br>No one in between,<br>How can we be wrong?<br>Sail away with me,<br>To another world.<br>And we rely on each other, ah, ah.<br>From one lover to another, ah, ah<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, on working with Rogers and Gibb, she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smoothradio.com\/artists\/dolly-parton\/interview-islands-stream-kenny-rogers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">added<\/a>, \u201cYou want to do well and keeping up with the likes of Barry and Kenny, but I just figure I\u2019ll just always be me and do me and that seems to work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Photo by PL Gould\/IMAGES\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIslands In The Stream\u201d, the colossal 1983 duet by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, almost didn\u2019t happen. The hit song, named after an Ernest Hemingway novel and penned by the Bee Gees, describes an easy romance. Yet the recording process was anything but. Originally intended for Marvin Gaye, Barry Gibb suggested it to Rogers when [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":973477,"featured_media":5215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":316,"post_id":2139}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[30,113,509],"byline":[316],"class_list":["post-5213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-country-music","tag-dolly-parton","tag-kenny-rogers"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Features","term_id":12,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/features\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"Country Music","term_id":30,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/country-music\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kenny Rogers Almost Gave Up on \u201cIslands In The Stream\u201d, Then Dolly Parton Rescued the Hit Song - Songfacts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cIslands In The Stream\u201d, the colossal 1983 duet by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, almost didn\u2019t happen. 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