The 1980s was a time when great country duos flourished. The pairings of Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty, and mom-and-daughter Naomi and Wynonna Judd were tops with audiences. Their voices blended spectacularly, they enjoyed performing together, and they graced the genre with their mere presence. Let's hear it for these iconic 1980s duos!
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Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers
I can summarize these superstar singers in four words - 'Islands in the Stream." That 1983 megahit written by the Bee Gees was transformed into gold by Parton and Rogers. It was not their sole duet. Per American Songwriter, "Throughout three decades, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers recorded five duets together, from the 1980s through the 2010s, including "Real Love" in 1985, "Love is Strange," the title track of Rogers' 1990 album, "Undercover" from his 25th released Back to the Well in 2003." But it was "Islands" that really clicked.
Parton spoke emotionally about what that song meant to her. "You know how sometimes you get tired of singing something because it just becomes routine? I would always lighten up when that particular song was due in the setlist. It just always made everybody feel so good in the audience, and the audience always loved singing it. I never got tired of Kenny's voice." We never got tired of hearing you and Rogers sing it, Dolly.
George Jones and Tammy Wynette
Jones and Wynette were only married from 1969 to 1975, but they were still touring and recording together even after their split. Their union was undermined by Jones' substance abuse, which seemed to exacerbate the couple's volatile relationship. They made great music though. In 1980, five years after they divorced, Jones and Wynette did an album ironically titled Together Again and did a tour with 35 concerts, per People.
When she died at 55 in 1998, Jones wrote per the outlet via Rolling Stone, "I am just very glad that we were able to work together and tour together again. It was very important for us to close the chapter on everything that we had been through. I know Tammy felt the same way. Life is too short. In the end, we were very close friends, and now I have lost that friend. And I couldn't be sadder."
Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty
In the 1980s, Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty released an album titled Two's A Party, plus three compilation albums and three singles. They were also prolific in the 1970s. But the quality of the duo can't be measured in output alone. They were truly legendary. People immediately warmed to them for years as they performed and recorded. Per American Songwriter, "They released a total of 13 singles, 12 of which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart before disbanding in 1981." Sadly, Twitty died at age 59 in 1993. Lynn lived to 90. She passed away in 2022.
Naomi and Wynonna Judd
With 1980s songs like "Grandpa," "Have Mercy," and "Turn It Loose," the Judds established their reputation as charismatic performers that the public loved. They nabbed nine CMA Awards and five Grammys, as if we needed industry proof of their amazing gifts. The Judds had fourteen chart-topping tunes. Tragically, Naomi took her own life on April 30, 2022. Her death occurred just prior to her and Wynonna's induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
