Country music legend Kenny Rogers has sadly passed away at the age of 81, his family confirmed.

The ‘Islands In The Stream’ singer died of natural causes at home on Friday, under the care of hospice, the Rogers family said in a statement published online.

“The Rogers family is sad to announce that Kenny Rogers passed away last night at 10:25PM at the age of 81,” the statement read. “Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family.”

The statement continued: “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.”

Tributes poured in for the star online, once the news broke, with one fan saying: “Condolences with Prayers go out to the family. I had pleasure of seeing him in concert on Toronto Canada. You will be missed and never forgotten. Thank you for your beautiful musics, great memories.”

Another wrote: “This world has lost yet ANOTHER legend #gonetoosoon We love you too Kenny. Prayers for all the fans, Family and Friends of Kenny’s.”

While another said: “This is so very sad. He was such a wonderful Talent. Loved his music. I was blessed to see him once many years ago with Dottie West in a concert in Springfield Illinois. God bless you Kenny Rogers.”

The world-famous singer continued to sing until late 2017, when he ended his star-studded career with an all-star show in Nashville.

Speaking at the time about why he had chosen that time to hang up his microphone, he said: “Every day is not a holiday. You get out there [and] it’s hard, hard work. I can’t do it like I used to do it.

“And I swore that I’d do this until I started embarrassing myself … I’m going out because I need to go out and I’m going to enjoy my time at home with my wife and kids. I’m going to enjoy every moment of it.”