On Wednesday, October 25, 2017, Kenny Rogers took the stage at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena for what was billed as a farewell concert celebration. Rogers' final tour, The Gambler's Last Deal, would encompass further performances (including a run of Christmas shows in December 2017) before a halt was announced, on doctor's orders, of a planned 2018 leg. But the all-star Nashville show was a symbolic last hurrah for the superstar who died in March 2020 at the age of 81. The tribute concert,
The fact is simple: on artistic and commercial achievement alone, The Judds' story remains among one of country music's greatest successes. Naomi Judd and her eldest daughter Wynonna were a pair of raven-haired hitmakers who put 14 songs at the top of Billboard's country charts (and another six in the Top 10). In every year from 1984 (the year they issued their first full-length album, Why Not Me) to 1990 (the year they issued their last, Love Can Build a Bridge), they were named Top Vocal