Kenny Rogers Tells Dan Rather When to Hold Them and When to Fold Them in The Big Interview

Kenny Rogers has been more than the gambler through the years. The man who one told Ruby not to take her love to town is a Country Music Hall of Famer, multi-award-winning songwriter/singer, consummate entertainer and acclaimed actor. He also opened up a chain of fried chicken places that drove both Jerry and Kramer crazy on "Seinfeld."

Singer/songwriter Kenny Rogers is going to bring his poker face to Dan Rather on Sept. 23 when he does "The Big Interview" for AXS TV at 8 p.m.  

Dan Rather and Kenny Rogers are both from Houston. Kenny Rogers sat down with the veteran newsman for an in depth interview. For an hour, Rogers will alk about his five-plus decades in entertainment. In "Kenny Rogers: Through The Years," Rather questions Rogers about his start in the music industry as a jazz musician.

Rogers will fill in all the details about his early days as a singer/bass player with his high school doo-wop quartet the Scholars, the jazz trio the Bobby Doyle Three, folk rock group the New Christy Minstrels and country/rock band the First Edition to what led him to start his solo career, and Lionel Ritchie and Dolly Parton collaborations, and finally a country music icon. Rogers was the first country artist to consistently sell out arenas and crossover into a pop.

Rogers set a record for having a charting song in each of the past seven decades. He has recorded 24 No. 1 hits and 12 No. 1 album. Rogers sold over 120 million albums sold worldwide (one Diamond album, 19 Platinum albums, and 31 Gold albums). 

Rogers won three Grammy Awards, 11 People's Choice Awards, 18 American Music Awards, eight Academy of Country Music awards and six Country Music Association awards.  His current critically acclaimed album, You Can't Make Old Friends (released on Warner Bros. in 2013), became his 22nd Top 10 Country Album.  The title track duet with Dolly Parton has earned Grammy Award and CMA Award nominations. Rogers was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and also received the CMA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.

Rogers still performs about 100 live shows a year worldwide.

The interview was filmed on stage at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.