Kenny Rogers - Kenny Rogers Snubbed Alcohol After Watching Dad's Addiction Battle

Country music legend Kenny Rogers vowed to steer clear of booze throughout his life after witnessing his father struggle with alcoholism.

The Gambler hitmaker is set to lift the lid on his life in a new memoir, Luck or Something Like It, telling all about growing up in a house of eight kids and his father's addiction.

Rogers admits he made a promise to himself as a teen to avoid alcohol at all costs to avoid ending up like his dad.

In an interview with Reuters, he explains, "I think that one of the real tragedies in my life is that I never really got to know why my dad drank. He was an alcoholic, but during that time, post-War World Ii, a lot of people were unemployed and ended up drinking. He couldn't really support his family and I think it just broke him down. It breaks my heart that I didn't know that before he passed away.

"I never drank in my life. I saw it destroy him and saw it destroy other people I work with, so I made a conscious decision about this. Plus I didn't know if there was any predetermination for me as the son of an alcoholic to become addicted, so I just never tried it."