Question
NETHERLANDS - MARCH 19, 2025: CD album:The Very Best Of Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, a CD version of an in 1987 released LP record of the American country singers

Who wrote Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’ "Islands in the Stream"?

Last updated: August 15, 2025

Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's "Islands in the Stream" remains one of country music's most beloved duets, a song so perfect you'd think it was destined for these two legends from the start. The track became a massive crossover hit in 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and proving that when you put two superstars together, magic happens. Who actually wrote "Islands in the Stream"?

Correct Answer: The Bee Gees

(Source)

Barry Gibb was already producing Kenny Rogers' entire album at the time, so it only makes sense that he'd write "Islands in the Stream" along with his Bee Gees bandmates and brothers. The song was either written for Diana Ross or Marvin Gaye depending on which Gibb brother you ask, but it was refashioned from an R&B/Soul song into a country pop song. Rogers felt like the song was missing something, and Gibb was the one to suggest it needed Dolly Parton, who was luckily recording her own music in the same building. After she agreed, it was finally recorded as a duet, and became both artists' second number one song.

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