With a career spanning over 50 years and a string of unforgettable songs to her name, Dolly Parton managed to achieve the near impossible: cross-generational appeal …
Queen of country music. Pioneering feminist heroine. Business phenomenon. Patriotic icon. Philanthropist cum laude. Unapologetic cosmetic surgery devotee. Black-belt wit. Steel Magnolia.
Regardless of how you define her, Dolly Parton touched many lives. Having performed with the likes of Queen Latifah, Katy Perry, Norah Jones and Vince Gill, a new generation has been introduced to her music (being Miley Cyrus’ godmother also helps).
Entrepreneurs love that she has figured out the American Dream and made it work – her net worth is estimated at €600m, the result of hard graft (waking up everyday at 3am to start answering emails).
Middle America loves her humility, Christian values and housekeeping skills – she was a passionate cook with a cookbook, Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s: Love, Laughter and Lots of Good Food, under her sequined belt.
Politically she sidesteps controversy, preferring an inclusive approach. Parton wrote a song for Transamerica, a film about a trans woman, and donated another to Love Rocks, a LGBTQ benefit album.
And the fashion community admire how she wears her rhinestone-embellished costumes with self-deprecating charm (“It takes a lot of time and money to look this cheap.”)
So, it’s no surprise to find that her Q score, which measures the appeal of celebrity brands, is one of the highest in the world. Perhaps this is also because she enjoyed something of a renaissance in the last few years.
Her nine-part podcast, Dolly Parton’s America took a deep dive into her rise from a “dirt poor” upbringing in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee to Nashville legend.
Netflix show Heartstrings, a documentary Here I Am, a seasonal special Dolly Parton’s Christmas On The Square, a musical and memoir, Songteller: My Life In Lyrics all helped to keep her in the limelight.
Musically, Parton composed over 3,000 songs during her 50-year career, famously turning down Elvis Presley who wanted to record her song I Will Always Love You, later recorded by Whitney Houston. Parton could also play 20 instruments, including the violin, dulcimer, mandolin, pan-flute and her acrylic nails!
During the pandemic, she donated $1m towards research that supported the development of the Moderna vaccine; the Dolly Parton Covid-19 research fund just one example of her well-known philanthropy.
She trended online when it was announced that employees of her Dollywood theme park (which includes a water park, theatre, rollercoaster rides and a replica of her two-room childhood home) would be given the opportunity enrol in college free of charge. Herschend Enterprises, which operates Dollywood, announced that it would cover “100 per cent of tuition, fees and books for its 11,000 employees who chose to pursue further education.” The programme, called Grow U, launched in 2022.
Parton’s Dollywood Foundation includes a nonprofit literary initiative called The Imagination Library, posting free books to kids since 1995. Over three million children globally have been registered for the programme and more than 300 million books have been delivered. “I created the Imagination Library as a tribute to my Daddy,” Parton explains. “He was the smartest man I have ever known, but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams.” Ireland signed up to The Imagination Library in 2019. If a child is registered at birth by the time they turn five, they will have received a collection of 60 books ranging from TiN by Dubliner Chris Judge to Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant.
Parton’s own literary choices are interesting. When asked to name three authors she would invite to dinner, she listed Maya Angelou, Charles Dickens and James Patterson. “Since we’re both in entertainment, we could write it off as a business expense,” she quipped about the American author and philanthropist. They even published a novel together. They share striking similarities, not least their humble beginnings and overcoming the odds to build entertainment empires, with no inclination of retiring in their 70s.
They both have non-profits dedicated to childhood reading and literacy. Both are prolific writers in their genres and have collaborated with numerous big names – Patterson with President Clinton and Maxine Paetro, Parton with Julio Iglesias and Kenny Rogers, among many others.
Run Rose Run combines Patterson’s mastery of the thriller genre and Parton’s insider knowledge of Nashville’s dark underbelly, telling the story of a young singer with a secret that inspires her music. Full of heart and humanity, it’s reminiscent of Parton’s songs from Jolene to Coat of Many Colours (which she famously sang in Páidí Ó Sé’s pub Co Kerry in 1990 while on holiday in Ireland). Perhaps of more importance to Parton is an album of songs inspired by the book’s characters. “At the end of the day, I hope I will be remembered as a good songwriter. The songs are my legacy,” she wrote in her memoir The Songteller. That’s already guaranteed.
Originally published in 2022.
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