Kenny Rogers: Dolly Parton mourns the loss of her old friend and collaborator

Dolly Parton shared a video on Instagram mourning the loss of country music legend Kenny Rogers. Photo / Getty Images

Dolly Parton's heart is "broken" following the death of Kenny Rogers.

The 9 To 5 hitmaker admits she was devastated to find out her good friend had passed away at the age of 81 from natural causes under the care of a hospice team.

In the video, she shared: "I couldn't believe it when I got up this morning and turned on the TV, checking to see what the coronavirus was doing, and it told me that my friend and singing partner Kenny Rogers had passed away.

Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers rehearse a song for their appearance on the TV show Live ... And in Person in Los Angeles in 1983. Photo / AP

"And I know that we all know Kenny's in a better place than we are today, but I'm pretty sure he's gonna be talking to God sometime today if he ain't already, he's gonna be asking him to spread some light on bunch of this darkness going here.

"But I love Kenny with all my heart. My heart's broken and a big old chunk of it has gone with him today. And I think that I can speak for all his family, his friends and fans when I say that I will always love you. God bless you, Kenny, fly high. Straight to the arms of God and to the rest of you, keep the faith."

Dolly praised Kenny as a "wonderful man and a true friend".

View this post on Instagram

You never know how much you love somebody until they’re gone. I’ve had so many wonderful years and wonderful times with my friend Kenny, but above all the music and the success I loved him as a wonderful man and a true friend. So you be safe with God and just know that I will always love you, dolly.

A post shared by Dolly Parton (@dollyparton) on Mar 21, 2020 at 7:39am PDT

She captioned the video: "You never know how much you love somebody until they're gone. I've had so many wonderful years and wonderful times with my friend Kenny, but above all the music and the success I loved him as a wonderful man and a true friend. So you be safe with God and just know that I will always love you, dolly (sic)"

The country music legend passed away on Saturday, confirmed in a statement posted online, which read:

"The Rogers family is sad to announce that Kenny Rogers passed away last night at 10:25PM at the age of 81. Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family. The family is planning a small private service at this time out of concern for the national Covid-19 emergency. They look forward to celebrating Kenny's life publicly with his friends and fans at a later date."