The Gambler - Kenny Rogers - MP3 instrumental karaoke

Sometimes magic doesn’t happen until a song finds the right singer. When Don Schlitz wrote “The Gambler” in 1976, he was only 23 years old. The young songwriter shopped the song around Nashville for two years before country artist Bobby Bare recorded it on his album Bare. When the song wasn’t released as a single, Schlitz decided to record it himself. That version failed to chart higher than #65. Next, Johnny Cash took a try but even the Man in Black couldn’t make it a hit. It took Kenny Rogers to create the magic that took “The Gambler” to the top of the charts and beyond. The song inspired a 1980 TV movie Kenny Rogers as The Gambler which was the highest-rated TV movie of the year. He followed that success with four more TV movies based on the same character. The popular “The Gambler” slot machines were sold to casinos. The song earned Rogers a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. Schlitz took home a Grammy for Country Song of the Year. The iconic song changed both their lives. Rogers already had two #1 hits but “The Gambler” brought him worldwide crossover fame. Schlitz was able to quit his job as a computer operator. The backing track for “The Gambler” is available as an instrumental on Karaoke Version. Try your luck with this version or the other arrangements of this song on Karaoke Version.