In 1979, a heartfelt ballad about unwavering devotion struck a chord with listeners, climbing all the way to No. 1 and becoming one of the era’s most unforgettable love songs.
Kenny Rogers was coming off a huge hit with the song “The Gambler” when he released the tender track. The storytelling song became famous for its life lessons of knowing when to play your hand or walk away.
Therefore, to follow that up with a gritty ballad about a struggling songwriter who wrestles with self-doubt seemed like an unlikely choice. However, it’s that message of how love can overcome that resonated with Rogers’ fans.
“She Believes in Me” became a hit because of the song’s quiet message—a man’s uncertainty in the face of his love’s unwavering faith. Listeners fell in love with Steve Gibb‘s lyrics, and the song raced up the Billboard Country Chart to No. 1 in June 1979.
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The song also reached the top of the Adult Contemporary Chart, peaking in May of that same year. However, it only reached No. 5 on Billboard’s Top 100.
In 2012, during a two-night performance as an Artist-in-Residence at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Rogers declared that “She Believes in Me” was one of his favorite songs he had ever recorded, according to The Boot.
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U Discover Music said the song “has the kind of chorus that sticks in your head even if you don’t think you’ve ever heard it before.” In 1979, “She Believes in Me” was Rogers’ biggest hit to date.
The song was included on the LP The Gambler. Released in 1978, the album became a major crossover breakthrough, soaring to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart and climbing into the Top 15 on the Billboard 200 on the success of its title track, and “She Believes in Me.”
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The concept of The Gambler would spawn a series of five television movies over 17 years. Rogers played the lead character of Brady Hawkes in the films The Gambler (1980), The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1983), The Gambler Part III: The Legend Continues (1987), The Gambler Returns: The Luck Of The Draw (1991), and Gambler V: Playing For Keeps (1997), per the singer’s official website.
Rogers discussed “She Believes in Me” with the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “The ballads I did, you know I came up through jazz, so I had a little more experience in singing those types of songs, which I think really helped me on like ‘Through the Years’ and ‘She Believes in Me’ and ‘You Decorated My Life.’ They were song songs. They weren’t country songs. They were just songs with great messages.”
Kenny Rogers died on March 20, 2020. He was 81.