Kenny Rogers is releasing his first Christmas album in 17 years, and he took some time to stop by the Taste of Country Nights studio to chat about the record.

In short, Rogers is thrilled about Once Again It’s Christmas, which is set for release Sept. 25. The record is composed of the most classic holiday tunes — it features "Winter Wonderland" and "Little Drummer Boy," to name two — because of the feeling they convey.

“The record company taught me something," Rogers tells us. "They said, ‘People go in to buy a Christmas album, I don’t care who the artist is, if they don’t see songs they recognize they won’t buy it. They really want to feel Christmas and they know what songs make them feel that.”

The music icon even had a couple of his famous friends with beautiful voices join him for duets on the record.

"I did a duet with Jennifer Nettles on this thing called ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ … and I did another one with Alison Krauss that’s called ‘Some Children See Him’ that’s a beautiful song," he shares.

Rogers will also hit the road for a Christmas tour, on which he'll get to help fans get in the holiday spirit. He's playing roughly 30 shows, so he'll be traveling through much of is holiday, bringing festive joy to others.

Sam Alex is the host of Taste of Country Nights radio, a syndicated night show which airs on more than 60 Townsquare Media Group stations nationwide.

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