Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Flirted for How Long?

By Kotei Kotey, August 14, 2014 04:36 PM

Maybe it's the rumor that just won't go away: that country music icons Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton were romantically involved back in the day - at least since their 1983 duet "Islands in the Stream" climbed to the top of the charts and became the anthem of a generation.

The rumor persisted for more than three decades, even as they recorded the single "You Can't Make Old Friends" last year.

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But Rogers recently was moved to put the kibosh on the rumor once again.

"Oh, I started that," Rogers told Jenna Bush Hager of NBC's Today show. "I always say we just flirted with each other for 30 years."

An exhibit on the singer-songwriter's life and career opened at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Aug. 15.