Islands in the Stream by Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers on AllMusic

The four minutes and eight seconds of pop majesty which make up "Islands In The Stream" provided an oasis on pop radio in 1983. For The Bee Gees and co-producers Karl Richardson and Albhy Galuten it was the culmination of decades of hard work, polishing a brilliant diamond for two superstars. Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton embrace the opportunity and ride the uplifting melody resplendent in words of love and devotion for all its worth. Racking up more than 2 million sales the single was Rogers only platinum 45 RPM and his biggest success on RCA Records. The same goes for Dolly, who had all her hits on RCA (though Parton's composition "I Will Always Love You" as performed by Whitney Houston was four times bigger than this monster hit, "Islands In The Stream" remains Parton's biggest record as a peformer ). From Rogers' Eyes That See In The Dark album this epic of two lovers pledging forever to each other while the chaotic waters swirl around them is exotic both in lyric and musical accompaniment. It is one of those rare, magical songs that bursts out of the radio speakers and demands you listen from start to finish, and when it's over, it isn't, because that melody just keeps swimming around in your head. Though The Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" may be their biggest "standard", a song that Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, and so many others interpreted in such a way as to call it their own, "Islands In The Stream" is arguably The Bee Gees and company's greatest production achievement on an outside project from a list that includes gems by Frankie Valli, Dionne Warwick, Andy Gibb, Samantha Sang, along with songwriting and backing vocals for Rare Earth. Two huge country artists who clearly are good friends come together with one of the great pop groups of all time to generate an exquisite achievement in sound. As Marty Balin's "Miracles" and Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" have a special place in pop history as extraordinary works of art, so too does "Islands In The Stream", one of the few songs that can truly be called perfect.