Kenny Rogers Beyond the 1990s
 In the 21st century, Rogers was back at #1 for the first time in almost a decade with the 2000 single Buy Me a Rose, making him, at 61, the oldest artist in the history of country music to reach the chart summit. In doing so, he broke a 26-year-old record held by Hank Snow (who, in April 1974, was 59 years and 11 months old when he scored with Hello Love). Rogers held the record until 2003, when 70-year-old Willie Nelson became the oldest artist to have a No. 1 on the country charts with his duet with Toby Keith, Beer For My Horses.
Rogers also released the critically acclaimed album Back to the Well.
Although Rogers didn't record new albums for a couple of years, he continued to have success in many countries with more greatest hits packages. In 2004 42 Ultimate Hits, which was the first hits collection to span his days with the First Edition to the present, reached Number 6 on the American country charts and went gold. It also featured two new songs, My World is Over with Whitney Duncan and We Are the Same. My World is Over was released as a single and was a minor hit. In 2005 The Very Best of Kenny Rogers, a double album, sold well in Europe. It was the first new solo Kenny Rogers hits album to reach the United Kingdom for over a decade, despite many compilations there that were not true hits packages.
Rogers also signed with Capitol Nashville Records and had more success with the TV advertised release 21 Number Ones in January 2006. Although this CD did contain 21 chart-toppers as the title claims (recorded between 1976 and the present day), this was not a complete collection of Rogers' #1 singles, omitting such singles as Crazy in Love and What About Me?
Much of his success was with Capitol from 1976 to 1983 (called United Artists/Liberty at the time). It is very rare for an artist of Rogers' age to be signed to a major label. Capitol followed 21 Number Ones with Rogers' new studio album, Water And Bridges, in March 2006 on the Capitol Nashville label. The first single from the album was I Can't Unlove You which peaked at #17 on the country charts, after spending over 6 months on the hit list, more than 50 years after he formed his first group and 38 years after his first major hit as leader of The First Edition. I Can't Unlove You was followed up with the second single from the album, The Last Ten Years (Superman), in September 2006. The third single, Calling Me, which features Don Henley, became popular in early 2007, and was nominated for a Grammy Award at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Also in 2007, the 1977 Kenny Rogers album was re-issued as a double play CD, also featuring the 1979 Kenny album and this once again put Kenny's name into the sales charts world-wide. He currently lives in Atlanta. Kenny was also portrayed in the hit show Mad TV.
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