Lady (Kenny Rogers song)

The song was written and produced by Lionel Richie, and ranks among Rogers' biggest hits. Recorded in 1980, Rogers once told an interviewer, "The idea was that Lionel would come from R&B and I'd come from country, and we'd meet somewhere in pop."

The success of "Lady" also proved instrumental to Richie's career. The production work on the song was his first outside the Commodores and foreshadowed his success as a solo act during the 1980s. Rogers was also a featured vocalist on "We Are the World," co-written by Richie.

[edit] Chart success

Since his breakup with the First Edition, Rogers had tasted considerable success as a solo act, with nine No. 1 entries on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart (prior to the release of "Lady"), plus several Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary Singles charts.

"Lady," according to music historian Fred Bronson, would prove to be an important record for both Richie and Rogers. It became the first record of the 1980s to chart on all four of Billboard magazine's singles charts - country, Hot 100, adult contemporary and Top Black Singles.

It reached No. 1 on three of those charts in late 1980, including a six-week run on the Hot 100 and one week on the Hot Country Singles chart.

As a country entry, "Lady" was Rogers' 10th chart-topping hit in a career that saw him collect 20 No. 1 songs between 1977 and 2000. On the Hot 100, it was his only solo chart-topping song, although Rogers would have a duet No. 1 three years later (1983's "Islands in the Stream" with Dolly Parton). On the Adult Contemporary Singles chart, "Lady" was Rogers' second (of eight) songs that reached the chart's summit.

[edit] References

All Music Guide - Lady by Kenny Rogers
Bronson, Fred, "The Billboard Book of Number One Hits" 5th ed. Billboard Publications, New York, 2003. ISBN 0823076776.
Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.
Whitburn, Joel, "Top Pop Singles: 1955-2006," 2007.

Preceded by "Woman in Love" by Barbra Streisand	Billboard Hot 100 number one single by Kenny Rogers November 15-December 20, 1980	Succeeded by "(Just Like) Starting Over" by John Lennon
Preceded by "Could I Have This Dance" by Anne Murray	Billboard Hot Country Singles number one single by Kenny Rogers November 22, 1980	Succeeded by "If You Ever Change Your Mind" by Crystal Gayle
Preceded by "Woman in Love" by Barbara Streisand	ARC Weekly Top 40 number one single November 15, 1980 - December 13, 1980	Succeeded by "(Just Like) Starting Over" by John Lennon