Dolly Parton appeared to be completely bereft when her friend and collaborator Kenny Rogers passed away on March 20th at the age of 81. She paid tribute to her friend on Instagram, posting,

"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."

Rogers and Parton met for the first time in 1983 when they worked together on the song "Islands in the Stream." The tune, written by the '70s pop superstars the Bee Gees, was a big hit, even for the megastars, who were both already at the height of their careers when they recorded the duet. The song, which went platinum, became the first in a series of successful collaborations between both stars.

Fans could feel the chemistry between Rogers and Parton, and there was speculation that there was more to the relationship than met the eye. But it wasn't until 30 years later after "Islands in the Stream" was first recorded, that Parton (who is happily married) told interviewers that she wasn't Roger's type. For his part, Rogers joked that Parton was, quote, "hard to look at." Rogers didn't deny that he and Parton had chemistry, but they were happier keeping the tension where it was.

With all the flirting and the chemistry between Rogers and Parton, it was natural for fans and observers to assume that Parton's husband, Carl Thomas Dean, and Kenny's wife at the time, actress Marianne Gordon, wouldn't have any of it. But in a recent, exclusive interview with Closer Weekly, Rogers' ex-wife says the relationship between her then-husband and his attractive singing partner, including flirting and all, never bothered her, not even then. Gordon said in the interview, which she gave a few days after Rogers' passed away,

"I never felt uncomfortable at all. I just knew him so well. But, it's funny that you say that. We had a tennis pro who traveled with us...I told him Kenny said, 'I like [Dolly] as a friend and we have a great thing on stage. We'd lose it. There is sexual tension and teasing each other and it would screw it up.'"

Still, Gordon didn't totally give Dolly Parton a free pass, because she also thinks both Parton and Rogers may have been tempted to take things further at one point in time. Gordon admitted that she had thought Parton might have made a move because, as she said,

"It's entered my mind because she always said she thought like a man. I don't mean it badly. Dolly is a fun girl."

Yet, there was no reason for Gordon to be jealous of Rogers and Parton, because as the former actress put it,

"I always felt his total focus was on me. If anyone wanted anything from him, he was looking me in the eye and said, 'Whatever she wants to do.' I think that when he turned 50, I didn't have his full attention anymore but it looked like he still wanted me here. His life was such an open book and after two years he felt this craving, this longing. He said he felt he was having a mid-life crisis. He felt like his career was fading."

Rogers and Parton's creative relationship outlived Rogers' fourth marriage, which ended in 1993. Four years after that, Rogers married his fifth wife, Wanda Miller, who was 24 years his junior. Before he passed away, the country music singer said that Miller, the mother of his twin boys and his wife of 22 years, was his soulmate.

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