Kenny Rogers has revealed he was strapped for cash during his 50s.

The veteran artist, whose smash hits include songs like Lady, Ruby, Coward of the County and The Gambler, amassed a fortune from concert ticket and record sales in his early career, but he was financially irresponsible and blew all his money.

The 72 year old tells FoxNews.com, "It's one of the downfalls of the business. I had nothing as a child. I kind of blew it out as an adult."

And Rogers recalls the first big thing he bought was an automatic sprinkler system for his home.

He adds, "When I was a kid growing up in the projects I walked to school through a very wealthy neighbourhood and everybody had automatic sprinklers and I thought, 'That is so cool. Someday I want to have automatic sprinklers.' So when I got a lot of money the first thing I did was get automatic sprinklers on a 1,200 acre property. I would drive around on my golf cart watching the sprinklers go off. I loved that!"