American country singer-songwriter Kenny Rogers has died at the age of 81.

Key points: Kenny Rogers was raised in public housing in Houston

Kenny Rogers was raised in public housing in Houston He had his first hit in the 1960s and soon became a global star

He had his first hit in the 1960s and soon became a global star His signature song, The Gambler, kicked off a film career

His family announced he passed away peacefully at his home from natural causes.

Rogers's entertainment career spanned more than six decades, with chart-topping hits including The Gambler and Islands In The Stream.

His family is planning a small private service out of concern for the coronavirus pandemic, and will celebrate his life publicly with friends and fans at a later date.

The Houston-born performer with the husky voice and silver beard sold tens of millions of records and won three Grammys.

He was also the star of TV movies based on The Gambler and other songs, making him a superstar in the 1970s and '80s.

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Rogers thrived for some 60 years before he retired from touring in 2017 at the age of 79.

Despite his crossover success, he always preferred to be thought of as a country singer.

"You either do what everyone else is doing and you do it better, or you do what no one else is doing and you don't invite comparison," Rogers told The Associated Press in 2015.

"And I chose that way because I could never be better than Johnny Cash or Willie [Nelson] or Waylon [Jennings] at what they did.

"So I found something that I could do that didn't invite comparison to them. And I think people thought it was my desire to change country music. But that was never my issue."

From public housing to super-stardom

A true rags-to-riches story, Rogers was raised in public housing in Houston Heights with seven siblings.

Kenny Rogers enjoyed a stellar music career which saw him sell millions of records and win three Grammys. ( Reuters: MJ Masotti Jr )

As a 20-year-old, he had a gold single called That Crazy Feeling under the name Kenneth Rogers, but when that early success stalled, he joined a jazz group, the Bobby Doyle Trio, as a stand-up bass player.

But his breakthrough came when he was asked to join the New Christy Minstrels, a folk group, in 1966. The band reformed as First Edition and scored a pop hit with the psychedelic song, Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).

Rogers and First Edition mixed country-rock and folk on songs like Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town — a story of a Vietnam War veteran begging his girlfriend to stay.

After the group broke up in 1974, Rogers started his solo career and found a big hit with the sad country ballad Lucille in 1977, which crossed over to the pop charts and earned Rogers his first Grammy. Suddenly the star, Rogers added hit after hit for more than a decade.

The Gambler, the Grammy-winning story song penned by Don Schlitz, came out in 1978 and became his signature song with a signature refrain: "You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em."

The song spawned a hit TV movie of the same name and several sequels featuring Rogers as professional gambler Brady Hawkes. It led to a lengthy side career for Rogers as a TV actor and host of several TV specials.

A memorable partnership with Dolly Parton

Over the years, Rogers worked often with female duet partners, most memorably Dolly Parton. The two were paired at the suggestion of the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb, who wrote their duet Islands In The Stream.

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"Barry was producing an album on me and he gave me this song," Rogers told the AP in 2017.

"And I went and learned it and went into the studio and sang it for four days. And I finally looked at him and said: 'Barry, I don't even like this song anymore.'

"And he said, 'You know what we need? We need Dolly Parton.' I thought, 'Man, that guy is a visionary.'"

Coincidentally, Parton was in the same recording studio in Los Angeles when the idea came up.

"From the moment she marched into that room, that song never sounded the same," Rogers said. "It took on a whole new spirit."

The two singers toured together many times, including to Australia and New Zealand in 1984 and 1987.

Over the years they would continue to record together, including their last duet You Can't Make Old Friends, which was released in 2013.

Parton reprised Islands in the Stream with Rogers during his all-star retirement concert held in Nashville in October 2017.

ABC/AP