Kenny Rogers – Blaze of Glory

About The Song

“Blaze of Glory” is a country single recorded by Kenny Rogers for his 1981 album Share Your Love. Written by Danny Morrison, Johnny Slate and Larry Keith, it was released by Liberty Records on November 9, 1981 as the album’s third single, following “I Don’t Need You” and “Share Your Love with Me.” The track runs about 2:31 and was produced by Lionel Richie, who oversaw the entire project. On the original single, “Blaze of Glory” was paired with “The Good Life” as its B-side.

Within Rogers’ discography, the song belongs to the Share Your Love era, when he was firmly established as a crossover star on country, pop and adult-contemporary radio. The album, released in mid-1981, topped the U.S. country albums chart and reached the pop Top 10, giving Rogers gold and platinum certifications in the U.S. and Canada. “Blaze of Glory” appears early in the running order on many editions, setting a concise, upbeat tone before big ballads like “Through the Years.”

There is an unusual backstory behind the single. Razzy Bailey first recorded “Blaze of Glory” in October 1981, intending to release it as a single of his own. Contemporary reporting in Billboard notes that, up until the last minute, Rogers’ camp had no plans to push their version ahead of Bailey’s. After someone at Liberty reportedly heard Bailey’s cut and decided the song had hit potential, Rogers’ recording was rushed out instead. As a result, his version reached radio and the charts first, while Bailey’s recording ended up as an album track on his 1982 LP Feelin’ Right and on the single “She Left Love All Over Me.”

The lyric of “Blaze of Glory” looks at the end of a relationship from a relatively calm, adult angle. Rather than focusing on revenge or bitterness, it suggests that two people who once fell hard for each other should part on the same high note: “let’s go out in a blaze of glory, like two heroes in a story, let’s go out like we came in.” Verses describe a couple who know their love has run its course but do not want to lie or hurt each other, promising instead to “act like lovers one more time for old time’s sake.” The title phrase becomes a way of turning a breakup into a final act of dignity.

Musically, the track is a compact early-1980s Kenny Rogers single: mid-tempo, radio-friendly and centred on his voice. A straightforward rhythm section, electric and acoustic guitars and unobtrusive backing vocals support the melody, with the production keeping the arrangement clean and tight to fit within a three-minute single format. The performance fits neatly alongside other Lionel Richie–produced material on Share Your Love, balancing country phrasing with a smooth sound that also worked on adult-contemporary playlists.

On the charts, “Blaze of Glory” was a moderate but respectable hit compared with the larger smashes surrounding it. In the United States, it reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, No. 25 on the Adult Contemporary chart and No. 66 on the Hot 100 in early 1982. In Canada, it climbed to No. 4 on the RPM Country Tracks chart, and in Australia it appeared on the Kent Music Report with a peak at No. 91. These results meant the song extended the successful run of singles taken from Share Your Love, even if it did not match the crossover heights of “I Don’t Need You” or “Through the Years.”

Since its release, “Blaze of Glory” has remained part of the core track list whenever Share Your Love is reissued, and it appears on several Kenny Rogers compilations and digital playlists that survey his early-1980s work. Streaming services and curated sets such as “Kenny Rogers Essentials” continue to include the track alongside his best-known hits, underscoring its role as a smaller but representative piece of his country-pop catalogue: short, clearly written, and focused on the kind of grown-up relationship themes that defined much of his music from this period.

Video

Lyric

Let’s go out in a blaze of glory
All good things must end
Like two heroes in a story
Let’s go out like we came in
In a blaze of glory

Here we are, broken-hearted
We thought our love would never end
We fell hard when we got started
Fallin’ out like we fell in

Let’s go out in a blaze of glory
All good things must end
Like two heroes in a story
Let’s go out like we came in
In a blaze of glory

Let’s don’t lie and hurt each other
That would be our worst mistake
Once again let’s act like lovers
One more time for old-time’s sake

Let’s go out in a blaze of glory
All good things must end
Like two heroes in a story
Let’s go out like we came in
In a blaze of glory

Let’s go out (let’s go out)
In a blaze of glory (in a blaze of glory)
All good things must end
Like two heroes (ah) in a story (in a story)
Let’s go out (let’s go out) like we came in (like we came in)
In a blaze of glory