By the early 1980s, Kenny Rogers had already worn many creative hats. Getting his start as a member of folk ensemble the New Christy Minstrels, he adopted a hippie-rocker persona as lead singer of the First Edition before ultimately arriving at country music, releasing classics such as “Lucille” and “The Gambler”. However, audiences got to see an entirely different side of the multi-faceted superstar thanks to his role in Six Pack, released on this day (July 16) in 1982.
Starring alongside Diane Lane, Erin Gray, and Anthony Michael Hall, Rogers plays Brewster Baker, a down-on-his-luck stock car driver who sees his race car stripped for parts by a group of orphaned children. Instead of turning them over to the law, however, Baker takes them under his wing, finding both renewed success in his career and an unlikely family.
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Six Pack isn’t currently available in a digital format, and these days it seems to have disappeared entirely from the pop-culture lexicon. However, the film grossed more than $20 million at the box office and helped establish Kenny Rogers as a formidable presence on the silver screen. It also introduced audiences to Diane Lane, just a teenager at the time.
This Kenny Rogers Film Has a Rich Country Music Soundtrack
Despite impressive performances from Kenny Rogers and the cast of children, a good deal of Six Pack’s charm lies in its country music-laden soundtrack.
Indeed, the backbone is Rogers’ own “Love Will Turn You Around”, released in June 1982 as the lead single and title track from his album of the same name.
The song—which Rogers wrote with Thom Schuyler, David Malloy and Even Stevens—topped both the Billboard country and adult contemporary charts. It also enjoyed crossover success, reaching number 13 on the all-genre Hot 100, and landed Rogers a Grammy nod for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.
Other country music contributions to the soundtrack include Merle Haggard’s “Rainbow Stew”; Tanya Tucker’s “Texas (When I Die)”; Crystal Gayle’s “Hello, I Love You,” and Alabama’s “Mountain Music”.
Nearly two decades later, Kenny Rogers would star in the 2001 comedy Longshot, starring Paul Sorvino and including a cameo from none other than Britney Spears.
The “Lady” crooner also starred in top-rated TV films based on his own songs, including The Gambler series, Coward of the County, and Christmas in America.
[RELATED: 4 Amazing Kenny Rogers Songs That Hardly Anyone Remembers Anymore]
Declining health forced Rogers to retire from music in 2017. He died three years later on March 20, 2020, at his home in Sandy Springs, Georgia, at 81 years old.
Featured image by Ebet Roberts/Redferns