Kenny Rogers at Bonnaroo: "I’m So Out of My Comfort Zone"

When Fuse's Allison Hagendorf spoke with country hitmaker Kenny Rogers at Bonnaroo 2012, the veteran performer gave us an interesting confession: "I'm so out of my comfort zone doing this," Rogers said, laughing. "But I think that's good. Occasionally you have to step outside of your comfort zone to grow, and I've been doing the same thing for 20, 30 years."

The singer/songwriter also gave us his fluid definition of country music. "I think country music is what country people will buy," Rogers said. "And the minute you go too far across that line, people will stop buying it and it's no longer country. When I came in people said, 'Oh, that's not country music,' and in a sense they were right, because I had come from jazz. I had worked my way around [country], but I was doing great songs. I think when you do good music you get rewarded for it."

Speaking of great music, Rogers told us he thinks Lady Gaga has proved herself more than talented enough to justify her fame. "Gaga: I like her, if that's who she is and who she wants to be," Rogers opined. "She basically started out with shock value, but it worked—it got her attention, and then she had to deliver the talent. Which she did."

To hear what Rogers thinks about Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber, watch the video above. And to hear Rogers talk about his upcoming autobiography, Luck Or Something Like It, check out the video below.

And definitely check out our take on Kenny Rogers' Bonnaroo performance, in which we give five reasons why Rogers' set was better than your favorite band's Bonnaroo show.