Islands in the Stream

Vorlage:About Vorlage:Infobox single "Islands in the Stream" is a 1983 hit country and pop single, written by the Bee Gees and sung by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. It was the first single from Rogers' album Eyes That See in the Dark and the second pop number-one for both Rogers and Parton (Rogers having been there with 1980's "Lady" and Parton with 1981's "9 to 5"). They went on to record a Christmas album together, and had an additional hit with their 1985 duet "Real Love". The Gibbs originally wrote the song for Marvin Gaye in an R&B style, only later to change it for the Kenny Rogers album.

It also spent two weeks as the number one country song and in the year's final countdown was the number one song of the year of 1983. In Australia, the song was number one for one week in December 1983 and becoming one of the highest selling singles of 1984. In 2005, the song topped CMT's poll of the best country duets of all time; Parton and Rogers reunited to perform the song on the CMT special.

In April 2008, South Bend, Indiana radio station WZOW played the song continuously for several days on end. This was a stunt used to draw attention to the station's format change from alternative rock to adult contemporary.

Chart performance

Chart (1983)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1
Canadian RPM Top Singles	1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	1
Austria Top 40	1
Australia Singles Chart	1
Swiss Singles Chart	2
Norway Singles Chart	2
New Zealand Singles Chart	2
Swedish Singles Chart	3
Dutch Top 40	5
UK Singles Chart	7

Cover versions

• The Bee Gees, who wrote the song, performed it on their concert album One Night Only. Years later in 2001, the Bee Gees released their own version of the song on their compilation album Number Ones. Robin Gibb performed lead vocals on the track, which included (part of) the chorus from the 1998 hip-hop hit "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" by Pras (which also featured Ol' Dirty Bastard and introduced singer Mya). This version was also included on the Mythology box set released in November of 2010.
• Swedish pop and country singer Kikki Danielsson covered the song on her 1983 album Singles Bar, with lyrics in Swedish by Ingela "Pling" Forsman as "Öar i ett hav" ("Islands in a sea")
• In 2010 Ronan Keating performed the song with australian country singers The McClymonts

Comic Relief version

Vorlage:S-start Vorlage:Succession box Vorlage:S-end Vorlage:Infobox single In March 2009, actors Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon, in character as Vanessa Jenkins and Bryn West from the hit BBC show Gavin & Stacey, released a version of the song as a single for Comic Relief. Robin Gibb and Sir Tom Jones appear on the single as backing singers. Titled "(Barry) Islands in the Stream" in reference to the Barry Island setting of Gavin & Stacey, it entered the UK Singles Chart at number 1 on 15 March 2009.

References

• The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits

Vorlage:Dolly Parton Vorlage:Kenny Rogers