Dolly Parton is 65 today. Aside from being a big fan of her music, I have been a big fan of her personally for a long time. She is always so gracious about being famous and good to her fans, she's so comfortable in her own skin and doesn't apologize for or try to justify the hair and the makeup and the plastic surgery, she is so good at poking fun at herself and acknowledging the things that people joke about without getting worked up. She's not shy about expressing her faith but she's also so supportive of the gay community that has embraced her. I found out recently that she also set up a program called Dolly's Imagination Library in East Tennessee where she grew up to send a new kid's book every month until the age of 5 to any kid who signs up. And oh yeah, she's also crazy talented.
I am going to sound like an old person here, but there are so many people in the public eye that make me want to move to a cabin in Montana and never turn on the TV again. And then there are celebrities like Dolly who are kind and smart and truly embrace the responsibility that comes along with fame and fortune.
This is one of my favorite Dolly Parton songs. It really should have won an Oscar.
10 comments:
I love her too. I saw her at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville once and it was awesome!
I adore Dolly. I got almost giddy when I drove past some of her childhood haunts this summer.
Her "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" is the song that gets me through the really bad days.
That song SO should have won the Oscar. I love Dolly. She is one of my personal heroes. One of my cousins helped film some of her videos for Backwoods Barbie, and he said she's the nicest person you could ever meet. And that she curses like a sailor. I love her for that.
I love her! I'm so glad it's not just me. My current favorite is her duet with Brad Paisley "When I Get Where I'm Going". I also love "Jolene" and "Yellow Roses."
Also, you're not the only one that wants to move to a cabin because of people in the public eye (see also: the future of America as represented by my current students).
I agree, she was totally robbed of that Oscar.
I've ALWAYS loved her.
Sometimes when I'm driving into work I sing "workin 9 to 5" in my car...
So what kind of people make you want to move to a cabin ... people like the entire cast of Jersey Shore?! :)
One of my favorite Dolly stories is from a documentary I once watched of her.
Back when she hadn't become the famous singer she was, she wrote songs for other folks to record. Elvis Presley's people approached her about covering one of her songs, "I Will Always Love You." She was ecstatic. But when they told her Elvis only sings songs he owned, and that she needed to sell him the rights to the song, she graciously but firmly declined.
People thought she was insane. Elvis wanted to cover it, and he was a god. She was a nobody, just a songwriter and struggling singer. But she promised herself that she'd never give control of something she created to anyone else. It was her song, and it always would be.
Years and years later, a little movie called The Bodyguard was made. Whitney Houston did not ask for the rights to the song before agreeing to sing it. It was recorded, and Dolly kept ownership. Now I know ya'll remember how uber-manic popular that cover was. Ms. Parton made a fortune from its success.
That woman is an inspiration, and one smart cookie. I LOVE her to bits.
I have the same cabin fantasy, only mine is in BC. That's where I'm going to move when President Palin appoints Glenn Beck to the Supreme Court.
Her literacy program started when we We lived in Nashville and were _rather_ graduate school poor.
They sent a really marvelous selection of books.
I didn't have a great DP sighting while we lived there, even though I always craned my neck near her studio (about a mile from our home).
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