Kenny Rogers' new Water & Bridges proves that a seminal American music icon can still surprise people-and challenge himself. A story-song's best friend, Rogers built his monumental career on his ability to convey the emotional truth of a lyric. That trait resonates throughout Water & Bridges-an exceptionally substantial collection of 11 new songs that concentrates on contemporary material of exceptional depth.

Even though he's earned 20 Platinum® album certifications, scored 22 No. 1 hits and sold 105 million albums worldwide, Rogers will be the first to tell you that he's not the world's strongest or most gifted singer. However, he is among the most effective. When Kenny Rogers sings a song, a listener always gets exactly what it's about, always feels every nuance and subtle emotional point. When he performs, whether on record or on stage, it's never about how special his voice is; it's always about how special the song is.

His unique talent comes through stronger than ever on Water & Bridges, a deeply thoughtful set of contemporary story songs and messages that Rogers subtly dramatizes like no one else can. "My goal was to find an entire collection of modern songs that said something other than 'I love you' or 'it'll kill me if you leave,'" says Rogers. "I wanted to do songs that moved me and spoke to on a deeper level."

Reaching people has always been Rogers' specialty. In a pop era when superstars rarely stretch into the next decade, the Texas native is the only artist to chart a record in each of the last six decades, from the 1950s to the 2000s, including such American standards as "The Gambler," "Lucille," "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," "Coward of the County," "She Believes in Me" and "Lady." Moreover, "Islands in the Stream," his classic pairing with Dolly Parton, recently was named the No. 1 country duet of all time by CMT.

His accolades only tell part of the story, but it's a stunningly impressive list: Three Grammy Awards, five Country Music Association Awards, eight Academy of Country Music Awards, 11 People's Choice Awards and 18 American Music Awards.

Rogers even proved he could combat modern music's focus on youth by leaping back to the top when, after starting his own independent label Dreamcatcher Records, he achieved hits with "The Greatest" and "Buy Me a Rose"-which made him the oldest artist in all genres of music to reach No. 1 in the history of Billboard charts.

At this point, Rogers keeps recording and performing because he still enjoys it. "It's not important for me to be the No. 1 artist around," Rogers says. "I defy you to find anyone who's been No. 1 who will say it was the happiest time of their lives. You don't really have a life when you're there. But I love performing, and I like to have something fresh to sing. I like having contemporary music in my show. I love doing the hits, but I like working new songs in there too."

Rogers has always had other pursuits, of course. He's a successful actor whose Gambler franchise was so popular that it spawned five movies and a five-episode mini-series, the longest-running mini-series in American TV history. He's written four books of fiction and non-fiction, published three books of photography, and he's chairman of the multi-leveled company Dreamcatcher Entertainment. He won the prestigious Horatio Alger Award, given to those who have distinguished themselves while rising from humble beginnings.

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