In 1983, The Bee Gees Penned A Song That Would Become Kenny Rogers' Defining Duet

A false thing commonly believed about the Bee Gees is that the sibling trio disappeared after the death of disco in the late 1970s. Actually, the brothers Gibb pivoted to being in-demand songwriters, and they composed "Islands in the Stream," a 1983 duet that would be a career-defining hit for Kenny Rogers. In salvaging their own career following the demise of the glitzy dance-pop with which it was so strongly associated, the Bee Gees helped Rogers with his unlikely but successful transition from country superstar into the hit-making king of soft rock for Boomers.

In the very early 1980s, Rogers was leaning into a pop career, having hit No. 1 with the Lionel Richie-penned ballad "Lady" and the Top 10 with "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" and "We've Got Tonight," recorded with Kim Carnes and Sheena Easton, respectively. While putting together the LP "Eyes That See in the Dark," which needed to make a big splash because Rogers had just signed a lucrative deal with RCA, Rogers called up Barry Gibb. And with that, "Islands in the Stream" began to take shape.

The country singer and the Bee Gees leader had been slated to sing together on a Kenny Rogers duets album that ultimately fell apart. Rogers still wanted to work with Gibb, who'd since co-written Conway Twitty's 1981 country No. 1 "Rest Your Love on Me." This time, Rogers only wanted Gibb to write; he aimed to sing with another superstar who'd been part of the duets project: Dolly Parton. Gibb presented a song he'd written with the Gibbs brothers that had been composed with Diana Ross in mind – "Islands in the Stream." 

A blend of pop, country, and adult contemporary, "Islands in the Stream" went to No. 1 on all three of those Billboard charts and was certified triple-platinum in 2023. It also lived on, and generated songwriting royalties for the Bee Gees, as an interpolated hook in "Ghetto Supastar (That is What You Are)" by Pras Michel, Ol' Dirty Bast***, and Mya that reached No. 8 on the R&B and hip-hop chart in 1998. 

For Rogers, "Islands in the Stream" represented the start of a lengthy professional relationship with Parton. Rogers and Parton went on to record a Christmas LP and co-headlined a tour. They hit the country chart three times in the '80s and '90s, with "Real Love," "The Greatest Gift of All," and "Love is Strange."