A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, ''comté'', and its equivalents in other languages (''contea'', ''contado'', ''comtat'', ''condado'', ''Grafschaft'', ''Gau'', etc.) denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count (cf. ''conte'', ''comte, ''conde'', ''Graf'').

When the Normans conquered England, they brought the term with them. But the Vikings had already introduced the term earl (from Old Norse, ''jarl'') to the British Isles. Thus, "earl" and "earldom" were taken as equivalent to the continental use of "count" and "county". So, the later-imported term became a synonym for the native English word ''scir'' () or, in Modern English, ''shire''

Since a shire was an administrative division of the kingdom, the term "county" evolved to designate an administrative division of national government in most modern uses. In federal nations like the United States and Canada, counties are administrative divisions of the sub-federal states, commonwealths, and provinces; the federal states themselves having no formal divisions.

A county may be further subdivided into townships or other administrative jurisdictions under the county's control. The boundaries of a county usually, but not always, contain cities, villages, towns, or other municipal corporations. Depending on the particular nation, municipalities might or might not be subject to direct or indirect county control. In the United States, for example, municipalities are usually independent of county authority but file certain reports and returns with state government through various organs and agencies of county government.

In the United Kingdom, many county names derive from the name of the county town with the word "shire" added on: for example, Gloucester, in Gloucestershire; Worcester, in Worcestershire; etc.

Outside the Anglophone community of nations, the term "county" is often used to describe sub-national jurisdictions that are structurally equivalent to counties in the relationship they have with their national government; but which may or may not be operationally equivalent to the county as that entity is known in predominantly English-speaking countries.

Australia

Canada

China

The word "county" is used to translate the Chinese term ''xiàn'' (县 or 縣). On Mainland China under the People's Republic of China, counties are the third level of local government, coming under both the province level and the prefecture level.

There are 1,464 counties in mainland China out of a total of 2,862 county-level divisions. The number of counties has remained more or less constant since the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220). The county remains one of the oldest levels of government in China and significantly predates the establishment of provinces in the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368). The county government was particularly important in imperial China because this was the lowest layer at which the imperial government functioned. The head of a county during imperial times was the magistrate.

In older context, "prefecture" and "district" are alternative terms to refer to ''xiàn'' before the establishment of the Republic of China. The English nomenclature "county" was adopted following the establishment of the ROC.

Denmark

The counties were first introduced in 1662, replacing the 49 fiefs (''len'') in Denmark–Norway with the same number of counties. This number does not include the subdivisions of the Duchy of Schleswig, which was only under partial Danish control. The number of counties in Denmark (excluding Norway) had dropped to c. 20 by 1793. Following the reunification of South Jutland with Denmark in 1920, four counties replaced the Prussian ''Kreise''. Aabenraa and Sønderborg County merged in 1932 and Skanderborg and Aarhus were separated in 1942. From 1942 to 1970, the number stayed at 22. The number was further decreased by the 1970 Danish municipal reform, leaving 14 counties plus two cities unconnected to the county structure; Copenhagen and Frederiksberg.

In 2003, Bornholm County merged with the local four municipalities, forming the Bornholm Regional Municipality. The remaining 13 counties were abolished on 1 January 2007 where they were replaced by five new regions. In the same reform, the number of municipalities was slashed from 270 to 98 and all municipalities now belong to a region.

France

Germany

Each administrative district consists of an elected council and an executive, and whose duties are comparable to those of a county executive in the United States, supervising local government administration.

Hungary

Counties are subdivided to municipalities, the two types of which are towns and villages, each one having their own elected mayor and council. 23 of the towns have the rights of a county although they do not form independent territorial units equal to counties. Municipalities are grouped within counties into subregions (''kistérség'' in Hungarian), which have statistical and organizational functions only.

The ''vármegye'' was also the historic administrative unit in the Kingdom of Hungary, which included areas of present-day neighbouring countries of Hungary. Its Latin name (''comitatus'') is the equivalent of the French ''comté''. Actual political and administrative role of counties changed much through history. Originally they were subdivisions of the royal administration, but from the 13th century A.D. they became self-governments of the nobles and kept this character until the 19th century when in turn they became modern local governments.

Iran

Each shahrestan has a government office known as Farmandari, which coordinates different events and government offices. The Farmandar, or the head of Farmandari, is the governor of the Shahrestan.

Fars Province has the highest number of Shahrestans, with 23, while Semnān and South Khorasan have only 4 Shahrestans each; Qom uniquely has one, being coextensive with its namesake county. Iran had 324 Shahrestans in 2005.

Ireland

These counties are traditionally grouped into 4 provinces - Leinster (12), Munster (6) Connacht (5) and Ulster (9). Historically, the counties of Meath, Westmeath and small parts of surrounding counties constituted the province of Mide, which was one of the "Five Fifths" of Ireland (in the Irish language the word for province, ''Cuige'', from ''Cuig'', five means "''a fifth''"); however, these have long since become the three northernmost counties of Leinster province. In the Republic each county is administered by an elected "county council", and the old provincial divisions are merely traditional names with no political significance.

The number and boundaries of administrative counties in the Republic of Ireland were reformed in the 1990s. For example County Dublin was broken into three: Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, and South Dublin - the City of Dublin had existed for centuries before. In addition "County Tipperary" is actually two administrative counties, called North Tipperary and South Tipperary while the major urban centres Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford have been separated from the town and rural areas of their counties. Thus, the Republic of Ireland now has thirty-four 'county-level' authorities, although the borders of the original twenty-six counties are still officially in place.

In Northern Ireland, the six county councils and the smaller town councils were abolished in 1973 and replaced by a single tier of local government. However, in the north as well as in the south, the traditional 32 counties and 4 provinces remain in common usage for many sporting, cultural and other purposes. County identity is heavily reinforced in the local culture by allegiances to county teams in Hurling and Gaelic football. Each GAA county has its own flag/colours (and often a nickname too), and county allegiances are taken quite seriously. See the counties of Ireland and the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Liberia

Lithuania

New Zealand

During the second half of the 20th century, many counties received overflow population from nearby cities. The result was often a merger of the two into a "district" (e.g. Rotorua) or a change of name to "district' (e.g. Waimairi) or "city" (e.g. Manukau City).

The Local Government Act 1974 began the process of bringing urban, mixed, and rural councils into the same legislative framework. Substantial reorganisations under that Act resulted in the 1989 shake-up, which covered the country in (non-overlapping) cities and districts and abolished all the counties except for the Chatham Islands County, which survived under that name for a further 6 years but then became a "Territory" under the "Chatham Islands Council".

Norway

Each county has its own county council (''fylkesting'') whose representatives are elected every four years together with representatives to the municipal councils. The counties handle matters as high schools and local roads, and until 1 January 2002 hospitals as well. This responsibility was transferred to the state-run health authorities and health trusts, and there is a debate on the future of the county municipality as an administrative entity. Some people, and parties, such as the Conservative and Progress Party, call for the abolishment of the county municipalities once and for all, while others, including the Labour Party, merely want to merge some of them into larger regions.

Poland

Romania

The Romanian word for county, ''comitat'', is not currently used for any Romanian administrative divisions.

Sweden

The Swedish term used is ''län'', which literally means "fief".

Republic of China (Taiwan)

United Kingdom

Most non-metropolitan counties in England are run by county councils and divided into non-metropolitan districts, each with its own council. Local authorities in the UK are usually responsible for running education, emergency services, planning, transport, social services, and a number of other functions.

In England, in the Anglo-Saxon period, ''Shires'' were established as areas used for the raising of taxes, and usually had a fortified town at their centre. These became known as the ''shire town'' or later the county town. In most cases, the shires were named after their shire town (for example Bedford''shire'') however several exceptions exist, such as Cumberland, Norfolk and Suffolk. In several other cases, such as Buckinghamshire, the town which came to be accepted as the county town is different from that after which the shire is named. (See Toponymical list of counties of the United Kingdom'')

The name 'county' was introduced by the Normans, and was derived from a Norman term for an area administered by a Count (lord). These Norman 'counties' were simply the Saxon shires, and kept their Saxon names. Several traditional counties, including Essex, Sussex and Kent, predate the unification of England by Alfred the Great, and originally existed as independent kingdoms.

In Northern Ireland, the six county councils, if not their counties, were abolished in 1973 and replaced by 26 local government districts. The traditional six counties remain in common everyday use for many cultural and other purposes.

The thirteen historic counties of Wales were fixed by Statute in 1539 (although counties such as Pembrokeshire date from 1138) and most of the shires of Scotland are of at least this age. In the Gaelic form, Scottish traditional county names are generally distinguished by the designation "siorramachd"- literally "sherrifdom" e.g. Siorramachd Earra-ghaidheal (County of Argyll). This term corresponding to the jurisdiction of the Sheriff in the Scottish legal system.

The county boundaries of England have changed little over time. In the mediæval period, a number of important cities were granted the status of counties in their own right, such as London, Bristol and Coventry, and numerous small exclaves such as Islandshire were created. The next major change occurred in 1844, when many of these exclaves were re-merged with their surrounding counties (for example Coventry was re-merged with Warwickshire).

In 1965 and 1974–1975, a major re-organisation of local government created in England and Wales several new administrative counties such as Hereford and Worcester and also created several new metropolitan counties which served large urban areas as a single administrative unit. In Scotland county-sized local government was replaced by larger regions, which lasted until 1996. Modern local government in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and a large part of England is based on the concept of smaller unitary authorities (a system similar to that which the Redcliffe–Maud Report proposed for most of Britain in the 1960s).

United States

Depending on the individual state, counties or their differently named equivalent may be administratively subdivided themselves into civil townships, e.g., Michigan, which has civil townships and charter townships (or townships are called "towns" in states where "township" means "''a'' town" or "village", e.g. New York); or counties may contain no large municipal corporations, e.g. Virginia, where all cities are independent cities; or they may contain cities and unincorporated areas, e.g., California, which historically divided its counties into townships but has abolished the latter.

Louisiana has entities equivalent to counties called ''parishes''. Alaska is divided into ''boroughs'', which typically provide fewer local services than do most U.S. counties, as the state government furnishes many services directly. Some of Alaska's boroughs have merged geographical boundaries and administrative functions with their principal (and sometimes only) cities; these are known as ''unified city-boroughs'' and result in some of Alaska's cities ranking among the geographically largest "cities" in the world. Nevertheless, Alaska considers such entities to be boroughs, not cities. Alaska is also unique in that more than half the geographic area of the state is in the "Unorganized Borough", a legal entity in which the state also functions as the local government.

New York has a unique system where 57 of its 62 counties are administrative divisions of the state, with normal county executive powers; while the remaining five are administrative divisions of the City of Greater New York. These five are each called ''borough'' in context of City government – Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island (formerly Richmond); but are still called "county" where state function is involved, e.g., "New York ''County'' Courthouse", not "Manhattan". The county names correlate to the borough names respectively as New York County, Bronx County, Queens County, Kings County, and Richmond County.

In two states and parts of a third, county government as such does not exist, and ''county'' refers to geographic regions or districts. In Connecticut, Rhode Island and parts of Massachusetts counties exist only to designate boundaries for such state-level functions as park districts (Connecticut) or judicial offices (Connecticut and Massachusetts). In states where county government is nonexistent or weak (e.g., New Hampshire, Vermont), town government may provide some or all of the local government services.

Most counties have a county seat, usually a city, where its administrative functions are centered. Exceptions include the nation's smallest county, Arlington County, Virginia, which contains no municipalities; the City and County of San Francisco, a metropolitan municipality in which city and county government have been merged into one jurisdiction, so the county seat is coextensive with the whole county; and, of course, New York City, which is coextensive with five counties that, thus, all have the same county seat – making the question superfluous. Some New England states use the term shire town to mean "county seat".

References

Category:Administrative divisions

Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers He was voted the "Favorite Singer of All-Time" in a 1986 joint poll by readers of both USA Today and People. He has received such awards as the AMAs, Grammys, ACMs and CMAs, as well as a lifetime achievement award for a career spanning six decades in 2003.

Later success includes the 2006 album release, ''Water & Bridges'', an across the board hit, that peaked at #5 in the Billboard Country Albums sales charts, also charting high in the Billboard 200. The first single from the album, "I Can't Unlove You," was also a chart hit. Remaining a popular entertainer around the world, the following year he completed a tour of the United Kingdom and the Ireland telling BBC Radio 2 DJ Steve Wright, his favorite hit was "The Gambler". He has also acted in a variety of movies and television shows, most notably the title roles in ''Kenny Rogers as The Gambler'' and the MacShayne series as well as his appearance on the Muppet Show.

Personal life

Career

Early career

Now on his own, Kenneth Rogers (as he was billed then) followed the breakup with his own single, a minor solo hit called "That Crazy Feeling" (1958). After sales slowed down, Rogers joined a jazz group called The Bobby Doyle Trio, who got a lot of work in clubs thanks to a reasonable fan following and also recorded for Columbia Records. The group disbanded in 1965, and a 1966 jazzy rock single Rogers recorded for Mercury Records, called "Here's That Rainy Day" failed. Rogers also worked as a producer, writer and session musician for other performers; including country artists Mickey Gilley and Eddy Arnold. In 1966 he joined The New Christy Minstrels as a singer and double bass player.

Feeling that the Minstrels were not offering the success they wanted, Rogers and fellow members Mike Settle, Terry Williams and Thelma Camacho left the group. They formed The First Edition in 1967 (later renamed "Kenny Rogers and The First Edition"). They chalked up a string of hits on both the pop and country charts, including "Something's Burning", "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town", "Reuben James" and "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)". In his First Edition days, Rogers had something of a hippie image, with long brown hair, an earring, and pink sunglasses. Known affectionately in retrospect as "Hippie Kenny", Rogers had a much smoother vocal style than in his later career.

When the group split in 1976, Rogers launched his solo career. Rogers soon developed a more middle of the road sound, with a somewhat rough but tuneful voiced style that sold to both pop and country audiences; to date, he has charted more than 60 top 40 hit singles (including upwards of 25 #1's) and 50 of his albums have charted. His music has also been featured in top selling movie soundtracks, such as ''Convoy'', ''Urban Cowboy'' and ''The Big Lebowski''.

Solo career

Rogers first outing for his new label was ''Love Lifted Me''. The album charted and two singles "Love Lifted Me" and "While the Feeling's Good" were minor hits. The song "Runaway Girl" was featured in the motion picture ''Trackdown''. Later in 1976, Rogers issued his second album, the self-titled ''Kenny Rogers'', whose first single "Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)", was another solo hit.

However, the single "Lucille" (1977) was a major hit, reaching number one on the pop charts in 12 countries, selling over five million copies, and firmly establishing Rogers's post-First Edition career. On the strength of "Lucille", the album ''Kenny Rogers'' reached #1 in the Billboard Country Album Chart. More success was to follow, including the multi-million selling album ''The Gambler'' and another international Number 1 single, "Coward of the County", taken from the equally successful album, ''Kenny''. In 1980, the Rogers/Butler partnership came to an end, though they would occasionally reunite: in 1987 on the album ''I Prefer the Moonlight'' and again in 1993 on the album ''If Only My Heart Had a Voice''.

In the late 1970s, Rogers teamed up with close friend and country singer Dottie West for a series of albums and duets. Together the duo had three hit albums, selling out stadiums and arenas while on tour. Their hits together "Every Time Two Fools Collide", "Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight" and "What Are We Doin' in Love" became Country standards. Of West, Rogers stated in a 1995 TNN interview "She, more than anybody else I ever worked with, sang with such emotion that you actually believed what she sang." Rogers was with West when she died after sustaining injuries in a 1991 car accident. In 1995 he starred opposite Michele Lee in the CBS biopic ''Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story''.

In 1980, his duet with Kim Carnes "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" became a major hit. Later in 1980 came his partnership with Lionel Richie who wrote and produced Rogers's #1 hit "Lady". Richie went on to write and produce Rogers's 1981 album ''Share Your Love'', a chart topper and commercial favorite featuring hits such as "I Don't Need You" (Pop #3), "Through the Years" (Pop #13), and "Share Your Love with Me" (Pop #14). His first Christmas album was also released that same year. In 1982, Rogers released the album ''Love Will Turn You Around''. The title track reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the country and AC charts. Shortly after he started working with producer David Foster in 1983 recording the smash Bob Seger cover "We've Got Tonight", a duet with Sheena Easton.

He went on to work with the Bee Gees to record and produce his 1983 hit album ''Eyes That See in the Dark'', featuring the title track and yet another #1 hit "Islands in the Stream", a duet with Dolly Parton. The Gibbs originally wrote the song for Marvin Gaye in an R&B; style, only later to change it for the Kenny Rogers album. The partnership with Bee Gees only lasted one album, which was not a surprise considering that Rogers's original intentions were to work with Barry Gibb in only one song but Barry insisted on them doing the entire album.

"Islands in the Stream", Rogers' duet with Dolly Parton, was the first single to be released from ''Eyes That See in the Dark'' in the United States, and it quickly went to #1 in the Billboard Hot 100 (it would prove to be the last country single to reach #1 on that chart until "Amazed" by Lonestar did so in 2000), as well as topping Billboard's country and adult contemporary singles charts; it was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipping two million copies in the US. Rogers would reunite with Parton in 1984 for a holiday album and TV special, ''Once Upon a Christmas'', as well as a 1985 duet "Real Love", which also topped the U.S. country singles chart.

Despite the "Islands in the Stream"s success, however, RCA insisted on releasing ''Eyes''' title track as the first UK single, and the song stalled at a disappointing #61 there, although it did stay in the top 100 for several weeks (when it was eventually released in the US, it was more successful, charting high on the Adult Contemporary chart and making the country top 30). "Islands in the Stream" was issued as a followup single in Britain and sold well, making #7. The album itself reached #1 on the country charts on both sides of the Atlantic and enjoyed multi-million sales. "Buried Treasure," "This Woman" and "Evening Star"/"Midsummer Nights" were also all successful singles from the album.

Shortly after came the album ''What About Me?'', a hit whose title track, a trio performance with James Ingram and Kim Carnes, was nominated for a Grammy award; the single "Crazy" (not to be confused with the Willie Nelson-penned Patsy Cline hit) topped the country charts. David Foster was to work again with Rogers in his 1985 album ''The Heart of the Matter'', although this time Foster was playing backing music rather than producing, a role given to George Martin. This album was another success, going to #1, with the title track making to the top ten category in the singles charts.

The next few years saw Rogers scoring several top country hits on a regular basis, including "Twenty Years Ago," "Morning Desire," "Tomb of the Unknown Love", among others. On 28 January 1985 Rogers was one of the 45 artists who recorded the worldwide charity song "We Are the World" to support hunger victims in Africa. The following year he played at Giants Stadium.

On January 1987, Rogers co-hosted the American Music Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. By 1988 to 1990, Rogers had In the 1990s Rogers continued to chart with singles such as "Crazy In Love", "If You Want To Find Love" and "The Greatest". His second Christmas album entitled "Christmas in America" was released in 1989 for Reprise Records. From 1991-94, Rogers hosted ''The Real West'' on A&E;, and on The History Channel since 1995 (Reruns only on The History Channel). He visited Miller's during this time period. From 1992-95, Rogers co-owned and headlined Branson, Missouri's 4,000 seat Grand Palace Theatre. In 1994, Rogers released his "dream" album titled ''Timepiece'' on Atlantic Records. It consisted of 1930s/40s jazz standards; it was the type of music he performed in his early days with The Bobby Doyle Three in Houston.

In 1996 he released an album ''Vote For Love'' where the public requested their favorite love songs and Rogers performed the songs (several of his own hits were in there). The album was the first for the TV shopping channel QVC's record label, onQ Music. The album, sold exclusively by QVC, was a huge success and was later issued in stores under a variety of different titles. It reached #1 in the UK country charts under the title ''Love Songs'' (a title also used for various compilations) and also crossed over into the mainstream charts.

In 1999 Rogers scored with the single "The Greatest", a song about life from a child's point of view (looked at through a baseball game). The song reached the top 40 of Billboard's Country singles chart and was a Country Music Television Number One video. It was on Rogers's album ''She Rides Wild Horses'' the following year (itself a top 10 success). In 1999, Rogers also produced a song, "We've Got It All", specifically for the series finale of the ABC show ''Home Improvement''. Not on any album, the recording sells for a high sum at auction.

Beyond the 1990s

Although Rogers did not 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 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's #1 singles, omitting such singles as "Crazy in Love" and "What About Me?"

Much of his success was during the period from 1976 to 1983, when he was signed to United Artists and later Liberty. It is very rare for an artist of Rogers's age to be signed to a major label. Capitol followed ''21 Number Ones'' with Rogers's new studio album, ''Water And Bridges'', in March 2006 on the Capitol Nashville Records 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; the song remains in recurrent airplay on some radio stations today. "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 Rogers's name into the sales charts worldwide. The following year, another compilation album ("A Love Song Collection") also charted. He currently lives in Atlanta.

As of 2011 Rogers has recorded 65 albums and sold over 190 million records.

On August 26, 2008, Rogers released "50 Years" exclusively at Cracker Barrel stores. The album includes some of Rogers's greatest hits, plus 3 new songs. The release is designed to celebrate Rogers's 50th year in the music business. However, it should be noted Rogers has been in the music business for more than 50 years including his releases with The Scholars, who recorded for a local label in Houston. 1958 was the year he signed his first recording deal with a major label. In 2007 the England national rugby union team team adopted Rogers song "The Gambler" as their unofficial 2007 Rugby World Cup anthem, after hearing prop Matt Stevens playing it in the team hotel. Before the Semi-final against France and the Final against South Africa, Rogers sent video messages of support to the team in light of them choosing his song. He offered to come to England and party with the team if they won the World cup.

In 2008 Rogers toured with his very popular Christmas Show. However, he decided to split the show up, making the first half his "best of" and the second half consisted of his Christmas songs. One such show was at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.

In 2009 he toured the UK, playing in Cardiff CIA (March 27), Birmingham NIA (March 28), Manchester MEN (March 29), Newcastle Arena (March 30), Plymouth Pavilions (April 1), Nottingham Concert Hall (April 2), London Hammersmith Apollo (April 3) and Bournemouth BIC (April 4), with support band - Savannah Jack. In 2009, Kenny embarked on his 50th Anniversary Tour. The tour went around the United States, Britain and Ireland.

On April 10, 2010, a TV special was taped, ''Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Year''s. Dolly Parton and Lionel Richie were among those set to perform with Kenny during a show celebrating his contribution to country, blues and pop music, It took place at the MGM Grand in Foxwoods. This special is set debut on March 8, 2011 on Great American Country.

Outside music

As an entrepreneur, he collaborated with former Kentucky Fried Chicken CEO John Y. Brown, Jr. in 1991 to start up the restaurant chain Kenny Rogers Roasters. The chicken and ribs chain, which is similar to Boston Market, was famously featured in an episode of the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld'' called "The Chicken Roaster". On the November 27, 1997, broadcast of ''Late Night with Conan O’Brien'', Rogers could not pick his chicken out in a taste test, claiming he preferred "greasy burgers."

Rogers and his restaurant were subjects of comedy from ''MADtv'', especially the impersonation done by Will Sasso; the sketch of the faux-Rogers hosting ''Jackass'' became popular on the Internet.

Rogers put his name to the Gambler Chassis Co., a Sprint car racing manufacturer started by C. K. Spurlock in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The company used the name from Rogers hit song ''The Gambler''. During the 1980s/90s, Gambler was one of the fastest and widely used Sprintcars with such drivers as Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell and Doug Wolfgang driving the cars to victory in the World of Outlaws and the famous Knoxville Nationals. Gambler sprintcars were also successful in Australia with drivers such as Garry Rush and Steve Brazier using Gamblers to win multiple Australian Sprintcar Championships.

Rogers appeared in a 2004 episode of Reno 911 as himself being subjected to incompetent security provided by starstruck sheriff's deputies to comical effect. In this episode, Deputy Garcia, who is obsessed with Rogers, reveals that he thinks that Rogers should focus all of his effort on acting, and "give that singing thing a rest for a while," because Garcia believes that Rogers could win an Oscar. In order to "protect" Rogers the deputies take down all of the posters announcing his appearance in Reno, when he finds out he angrily berates the deputies and leaves. He is then promptly shot and wounded by an obsessed fan played by Patton Oswalt, though he is only superficially wounded, and asks for "mall security".

Rogers is also the inspiration behind the pop culture website menwholooklikekennyrogers.com. The site features close to a thousand photos of men who look like the real Rogers, as well as tips on how to look like Rogers, places to spot Rogers look-alikes, and even a Kenny of the Month and sells t-shirts and buttons.

Marriages

Discography

Awards/Honors

Record labels

See also

References

External links

Category:1938 births Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American male singers Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Houston, Texas Category:University of Houston alumni Category:The First Edition members Category:United Artists Records artists

Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man". Lovett has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Album. ''It's Not Big It's Large'' was released in 2007, where it debuted and peaked at number 2 on the Top Country Albums chart. A new studio album, ''Natural Forces,'' was released on October 20, 2009 by Lost Highway Records.

Biography

Early life

Career

Lovett has acted in a number of films, including Robert Altman's films: ''The Player'' (1992), ''Short Cuts'' (1993), ''Prêt-à-Porter'' (1994), ''Cookie's Fortune'' (1999), and composed for ''Dr. T & the Women'' (2000). More recently, he has acted in ''The New Guy'' (2002) and ''Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story'' (2007). His television acting forays include ''Mad About You'', ''Brothers & Sisters'' and ''Dharma & Greg''.

Lovett was given an award called an "Esky" for Surest Thing in Esquire's 2006 Esky Music Awards in the April issue. The magazine said of Lovett: "The secret of Lyle Lovett's endurance comes down to the three C's: class, charisma and consistency... In the studio and on stage with his giant orchestra, he's spent two decades gracefully matching genuine songcraft with A-list musicianship".

Lovett primarily plays Collings acoustic guitars.

In 2010 Lovett appeared on an episode of ''Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...'' which also featured John Prine and Ray LaMontagne.

Lovett has recently contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Well Alright" for the upcoming tribute album, Listen to Me: Buddy Holly to be released on September 6, 2011.

Personal life

Lovett has been dating April Kimble since 1999.

On March 28, 2002 Lovett was caught by a bull and rammed into a fence on his uncle's farm in Klein, Texas, before being pulled to safety. He fully recovered after six months and began touring again in the summer of 2003.

Lovett was conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of Houston on May 15, 2010 at its general commencement ceremony. His mother was in the audience as her son was presented with an honorary doctorate from the same university she had received her bachelor's degree in 1960. His late father was also a graduate of the University of Houston.

Over the years, Lovett performed at various fundraising events for the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture of the University of Houston.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Singles

1980s

1990s

2000s

Featured singles

Filmography

Musician

Actor

Theatre

Actor

Composer

References

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Category:1957 births Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Kerrville New Folk Competition finalists Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Texas A&M; University alumni Category:Texas country musicians Category:American Lutherans Category:Musicians from Houston, Texas Category:Fast Folk artists Category:Lost Highway Records artists

History

He has performed or toured with Honeyboy Edwards, Mike Bones, Band of Horses, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, White Magic, Cat Power, The Anomonon, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Andrew Bird, Blonde Redhead, Modest Mouse, Girls, Sleepy Doug Shaw, Beach House, The Decemberists, Arcade Fire, Peter Bjorn and John, Papercuts, Fiery Furnaces, Jose Gonzales, The Shins, Iron and Wine, Arboretum, Deerhoof, The Walkmen, John Webster Johns, Lightspeed Champion, The Donkeys, OXES, Gang Gang Dance, Convalescent Surprise, Frank Fairfield, Michael Hurley, Jana Hunter, Lower Dens, Thurston Moore, and Mt. Egypt.

His songs have been featured in films such as Thomas Campbell's 2009 surf film ''The Present'' and Ralph Arlyck documentary ''Following Sean'', as well as notable skate videos featuring Jason Dill, Jerry Hsu and Dylan Rieder.

McCombs has stated that his tombstone will read "Home At Last."

Discography

References

External links

Biography

Early career

With lagging sales, Wagoner and his trio played schoolhouses for the gate proceeds; but in 1953, his song "Trademark" became a hit for Carl Smith, followed by a few hits of his own on RCA. Starting in 1955 he was a featured performer on ABC-TV's ''Ozark Jubilee'' in Springfield, Missouri. He often appeared on the show as part of the Porter Wagoner Trio with Don Warden and Speedy Haworth. Warden, on steel guitar, became Wagoner's long-time business manager. In 1957, Wagoner and Warden moved to Nashville, Tennessee, joining the ''Grand Ole Opry''.

Like many of his contemporaries in country music, Wagoner traveled and performed outdoors for fans at American Legion houses in rural towns. Fans sat on wooden benches facing what was often a makeshift stage. Wagoner would mingle with the audience during performance breaks and usually remembered the names of the towns he visited.

Chart success

Among his hit duets with Dolly Parton were a cover of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind" (1967), "We'll Get Ahead Someday" (1968), "Just Someone I Used to Know" (1969), "Better Move it on Home" (1971), "The Right Combination" (1972), "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" (No. 1, 1974) and "Making Plans" (No. 2, 1980). He also won three Grammy Awards for gospel recordings.

Television series

The shows usually featured opening performances by Wagoner with performances by Norma Jean, or later Parton, and comedic interludes by Rhodes. During Parton's tenure, she and Wagoner usually sang a duet (Wagoner did not perform any duets with Norma Jean). Each episode also featured a guest who would usually perform one or two songs. A spiritual or gospel performance was almost always featured toward the end of the show; generally performed by either Wagoner or Parton, or the show's guest star, or occasionally the entire cast.

The shows had a friendly, informal feel, with Wagoner trading jokes with band members (frequently during songs) and exchanging banter with Parton and Howser. During their duets, Parton and Wagoner both frequently changed lyrics on one another try throw the other off course. Parton wrote the song "I Will Always Love You" after Wagoner suggested she shift from story songs to focus on love songs.

Wagoner's stage alter ego was Skid Row Joe. The cast included:

Later career

Wagoner made a guest appearance on the HBO comedy series ''Da Ali G Show'' in 2004, its second season, interviewed by Borat Sagdiyev.

On July 14, 2006, he underwent surgery for an abdominal aneurysm.

Wagoner was honored on May 19, 2007 at the Grand Ole Opry for both his 50 years of membership and his 80th birthday. It was telecast on GAC's ''Grand Ole Opry Live'' that day with artists such as Parton, Stuart and Patty Loveless. ''Grand Ole Opry Live'' host Nan Kelley was part of the birthday celebration as well.

On June 5, 2007, Wagoner released his final album called ''Wagonmaster''. The album was produced by Marty Stuart for the Anti- label. The album received the best reviews of Wagoner's career and briefly charted on the country charts. He also toured during the summer of 2007 to promote the album. One of these was to open for the rock group The White Stripes at a sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Family

Death

Dolly Parton performed a concert at her Tennessee theme park, Dollywood, in his memory after his death.

Porter Wagoner Boulevard in his native West Plains, Missouri is named in his honor.

Discography

Awards

Category:1927 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Musicians from Missouri Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American male singers Category:American country singers Category:Country music television series Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:People from Howell County, Missouri Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Cancer deaths in Tennessee