The Week UK - 28.03.2020

(Nandana) #1

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THEWEEK 28 March 2020

Obituaries

KennyRogers,whohasdied
aged 8 1,wasthe“grizzled
king”ofeasy-goingcountry
andwesternmusic,“a
gravel-voicedcharmmerchantwhospokeof
realthingswithjustahintofcheese”,saidThe
DailyTelegraph.Oneofthemostsuccessful
recordingartistsofalltime,hesoldmore
than 165 millionrecordsinhis60-yearcareer,
released 4 0albumsandhadalmost70Country
Top 40 hits,includingthose“all-timeclassic
jukeboxfavourites”Lucille;Ruby,Don’tTake
YourLovetoTown;CowardoftheCounty;
and, withhisoldfriendDollyParton,Islands
intheStream.Althoughbestknownasa
countrymusician,thebig-heartedstaralsohad
rootsindoo-wop,jazzandfolk–andhehad
massivecrossoverappeal:IslandsintheStream
waswrittenbytheBeeGees,andoriginally
intendedforDianaRoss;andin 1986 ,Rogers
wasvoted“favouritesingerofalltime”ina
pollforUSATodayandPeoplemagazine.

BorninHouston,Texas,in1938,KennyRogerswasthefourth
ofeightchildrenborntoLucille,anursingassistant, andEdward
Rogers,acarpenter who wasanalcoholic. Money wastight(he
grewupon ahousingproject)andmusic wasarefuge.All his
family played,butit wasseeingRayCharles inconcertwhenhe
was 12that inspired him, hesaid.Athigh school,he sangand
played guitar inadoo-wopband. Afterleavingschoolin1956,
he joinedajazz trio,and hehadhis first(minor) hittwo years
later,withaversion ofThatCrazyFeeling.Hethenmoved to
LosAngelesand joined thefolkgroup the New ChristieMinstrels.
In 196 7, heformedFirstEdition, which notchedup sevenhits
includingMelTillis’sRuby.Thatsongiswritten fromthepoint
of view ofaVietnam veteran, leftimpotentandin awheelchair
bythewar,who hastowatchhiswifegoingoutintheeveningsto
meetother men.“Featuringthepained,sandpapery vocaldelivery
that would becomeRogers’strademark”, itreachedNo.6onthe
Billboardpopchartin 1969 ,and No.2intheUK. “Allthesongs
Irecord fallintoone oftwocategories,as arule,” Rogerssaidin

2012.“Oneisballadsthatsaywhateveryman
wouldliketosayandeverywomanwouldlike
tohear.Theotherisstorysongsthathave
socialsignificance.”

FirstEditionweresopopular,theylaunched
theirownTVshowin 197 1,butby 1975 ,the
bandwas“incommercialdecline”,andRogers
setoffonasolocareer.Attherelatively
advancedageof38,heestablishedhimself
withtwomegahits:thenarrativeballads
Lucille(“InabarinToledoacrossfromthe
depot/Onabarstool,shetookoffherring...”)
andTheGambler,saidNME.Afterthat,he
recalled,hewasinundatedwithoffersofsongs
(herarelywrotehisown).TheGamblerhad
beensenttohimby2 3 -year-oldDonSchlitz.
Init,thenarratortellsofa“lifespentgambling
anddrinking,butexplainsthatthesecretto
survivingitallistotreatlifelikeapokergame:
“Yougottoknowwhentoholdthem/Know
whentofoldthem/Knowwhentowalkaway/
Knowwhentorun.”Hethenquietlydriftsofftosleepanddies.
Thestoryprovedsocompelling,Rogers went ontoplaya
characterbased onthegamblerinastringofTVfilms. But acting
wasn’t hisonlysideline: healso publishedabookof photographs
he’dtakenon tour (KennyRogers’sAmerica)andlauncheda
chainoffriedchickenjointscalledKennyRogers Roasters.

Known forhis duettingskills,hehad hits withSheenaEastonand
GladysKnight,amongothers,buthisbest-loved workwaswith
Parton. “Everybody always thoughtwewerehavinganaffair,”he
saidoftheirfriendship.“We didn’t.We justteased eachother and
flirtedwi theachotherfor30year s.”He alsosaid:“Firstly,I’m a
believer thattensionisbetter ifyoukeepitthanifyou satisfy it.
And then secondly,shesaidno tome!” Rogers played thelegends
slot atGlastonbury in2013,andfinallyretired in2018,on health
grounds.He wasmarriedfivetimes,andhadfivechildren.“Every
womanImarried, IreallylovedherwhenImarried her,”hesaid.
“And Idon’tblamethem forthemarriagefallingapart.Iblame
myselfandmy chosen field ofmusic.”

KennyRogers
1938-2020

SolKerzner becameoneofthe
“richestandmost despised
men” inSouthAfrica owing
to his creation ofSunCity –
SouthAfrica’sequivalent to LasVegas, said
The Times.Buil tdurin gthe apartheid era in the
so-called black homelandof Bophuthatswana,
it became known to itscritic sasSin City ,for
the vicesthatcould be indulged there. But the
toxicatmosphere in thecountry atthetime –
the townships in flames and South Africabeing a
pariah–guaranteeditssuccess.It was,according
to one observer,“agawdy palace” running on a
“high-octanefuel of gambling, alcohol, porn and
girlie shows”where “everythingwas fake... fake
elephants,fakebeaches, fakejungles, fake
breasts”. For richwhites,the resort wasaplaceto
blow offsteam.For poor blacks, itbroughtjobs, andthechance
of winningafortune on the slot machines.

Solomon Kerznerwas bornin asuburb of Johannesburg in
1935 ,the sonofAshkenaziJewishimmigrants.Solwas bullied at
schoolforbeing Jewish–andwas advisedbyhis fathertotakeup
boxing,the bettertodefend himself. Hebecameawelterweight
championatuniversity,where hestudiedaccountancy.

Pugnacious inbusinesstoo,hewasonly 29
whenheopenedSouthAfrica’sfirstfive-star
hotel (its initialdesignbasedon picturesinhotel
brochures he’d ordered infromAmerica).He
called itTheBeverly Hills.After that,his business
expanded rapidly,and in 1981,hepaid Frank
Sinatra $2mtosing at theopening ofSun City.
Soon, 1.5millionpeople ayear were making their
waythere,many on coaches helaid on, saidThe
Daily Telegraph. Meanwhile, bigstars including
Queen performedthere (arguing that asit wasn’t
technically in SouthAfrica,they were not
breaching sanctions). Thisprompted the release
of an anti-apartheidprotest song containing the
chorus“IAin’t Gonna Play Sun City”.Asecond
resort in South Africa–The Lost City–followed;
he also builtandoperatedluxury hotels and
casinosinMauritius, theUS,Dubai andelsewhere.

Althoughindeliblyassociated with theapartheid era, Kerzner
thrived in theRainbowNat ion too:Nelson Mandelaevenasked
himtoarrange t he VIP functionat hisinauguration.Itlater
transpiredhehad giventhe ANCalarge donationbeforethe
1994 election.Kerzner wasmarriedand divorced f ourtimes,
including toaformerMiss World, andhad fivechildren.

Sol Kerzner
1935-2020

Country music star who sold 165 million records

KennyRogers:gravel-voicedcharm

Sol Kerzner:achampion boxer

The pugnacious businessman behind Sun City
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