I’ve never been much of a country music fan, but I’ve always been a Dolly fan. Great songwriter, philanthropist, and seemed like a genuinely nice person. RIP, Dolly, you were one of the greats.
Her vocals were exceptional, too. One of my favorite videos I've randomly come across on YouTube is "Jolene" slowed down to 33 RPM [0]. The comments are hilarious as well, but the clarity of her vocals and the vibrato that carries through to a slower tempo is really something special to hear.
She's one of those crossover performers, such as Kenny Rogers and Taylor Swift who escape Country music as a genre and get mass appeal. Whenever I comment about a Dolly Parton song playing in a public place I hear things like "She's a national treasure!"
It's nice but the original hits more raw to me. Perhaps because I heard it first ages ago. There was a kerfuffle about the song's provenance a few year ago.
I am a fan of covers, like Johny Cash's NIN "Hurt" or Marylin Manson's Depeche "Personal Jesus". If anyone has faves regardless of the genre, please share.
The Band’s cover of Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” is superb, particularly the addition of the accordion.
A band called Lake Street Dive has a phenomenal cover of Hall & Oates’ “Rich Girl”.
Scary Pockets is a group with rotating artists (formed by Patreon’s founder/CEO), their covers of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” are two I return to frequently.
My ex-wife was a big Kenny "The Country Version" Rogers fan. I chuckle to myself every time I watch The Big Lebowski and hear Rogers singing his psychedelic "Just Checked In" and wonder what the ex would think of his origins.
Agreed. The climbing voice in Jolene was my favourite of her vocal range. She was a pretty good singer too; not as good as e. g. Ariana Grande in her own prime (before chasing bulimia) but quite good nonetheless.
The guitar is also immaculate slowed down and that was her too. I always thought it was some hotshot Nashville session musician. One of the best guitar licks of all time.
Dolly wrote the lick herself, and when she was in the studio with the session players, they wanted her to show them how to play it [0].
She ended up having Chip Young lay it down on the record since her long fingernails made it difficult to nail consistently. This is also why if you watch videos of her playing guitar she plays in open tunings [1].
I still carry the rather 20th century idea that a performer of almost any kind also ought to have some sort of other talent in addition to their main one. The versatility of that sort of thing is one of the things that should separate a pro from the rest. I generally count "professional level musician" on more than one instrument as fulfilling that contract... perhaps one of the easier of the options, but it still carries that versatility advantage. Another example that I'm quite fond of is famous comedian Steve Martin performing Dueling Banjos with Kermit the Frog. The combo of two professional entertainers playing off of each other combined with the music skills creates the opportunity for a creative routine.
Her first record deal almost didn't happen because she was told she couldn't sing... apparently the producer didn't like her voice for whatever reason.
I wouldn't ever say I was a fan per se. But she was always the go-to example of "this is what billionaires should be doing with their money". So I respected the hell out of her.
Of course, she also proves the very point of there being no ethical billionaire, being "only" worth some 450 million instead. Likely because she gave so much of her wealth back to her communities instead. RIP Dolly, indeed.
She was a loving wife to her husband and a great entrepreneur in addition to being a prolific artist. It's hard to find someone so well rounded at so many things before even adding that most of the jobs she created were/are considered positive contributions to society, evenly spread between entertainment, hospitality, foodservice, and adjacent industries. I think I heard she was directly responsible for about 20k total jobs which is INSANE.
What a positive legacy to leave - good example for others.
Also not a fan of country/folk, but today I learned about her special albums trilogy: The Grass Is Blue, Little Sparrow, and Halos & Horns. Quite different music!
I am from the wrong continent to be inculcated in country music from an early age, but I read books distributed from her program every week to the niece. So that's probably her more durable contribution to society, I think.
Something tells me that the songs and films will outlast the books program, but hopefully it's making a difference in the lives of kids. There's no telling how far reaching that can end up being.
On the flipside, how many individual lives have been changed by the books provided to families for free? Impossible to quantify but I'd argue extremely important.
Wow. I knew she was close but still. She has always held her in a special place in my heart as I am sure so many else do. I hope there is a national day of mourning. And parades. She would've like parades
I wish other celebrities did as much as her. Her Imagination Library (https://imaginationlibrary.com) is just one example of her giving back to the community.
As a kid growing up in Tennessee I was the beneficiary of several of her reading programs. They really helped to foster a sense of curiosity and wonder that live with me to this day. Dolly was a real one, she'll definitely be missed.
How much do you remember these books your family was gifted before you were five years old? I thought it was more of a program to increase literacy. Personally, I remember books from when I was pre-kindergarten, but I don't typically think of them as "fostering a sense of curiosity and wonder", though, ultimately, I guess they did.
I just think it is an interesting topic in the framing of content policing and what not, it would be interesting to know what you took from the program.
She also had a program that gave a free book to elementary school kids every year (as a part of the local book fair). The first technical book I ever owned was a very basic intro to html that I received as a part of that program.
Yeah, it is such an amazing program that was just executed in the right way. She didn't see it hit the billion books like she wanted to in her lifetime, but I'm sure they will get there. I would love to know other examples of philanthropy like that are similar in impact?
My toddler gets a book a month in the mail from Dolly's Imagination Library and we keep reading some almost every day. She's made an impact in so many families <3
Daughter loves getting these in the mail, and this paragraph is absolutely right!
>> That year, Parton explained that as well as improving child literacy, “it’s the fact they get recognised. They get this little book with their little name on it in the mail, and they feel special. They start taking pride in themselves, and they know that somebody out there is thinking of [them].”
I'm in a borough of London, and did a bit of a double-take when they told me that Dolly Parton would be sending my daughter a book every month. But indeed she did, and it had exactly that effect, and now she's an absolutely avid reader.
Thank you, Dolly. That meant a lot to us, and millions upon millions of other people too.
My kid's nursery gave out books from Dolly. It was a little ceremony, my kid loved it. We still have them.
But I was really surprised, I thought it was joke, why would Dolly care about my Kid's reading? but she really did. She really did care about a bunch of kids in inner city london.
Obviously I am not blessed with millions, but Dolly does lead by example. I need to do better.
Perhaps then, rather than flying flags at half-mast, it'd be better to send that-many books to children around the world. Sadly it seems people calling the shots, the strong of the day, are more interested in delivering threats and ultimatums, rather than what shiny Dolly did.
What an apparent demonstration that not everyone is gifted the same amount of generosity.
I agree but I came across Dolly Parton syrup in the grocery store once. Had to say for all the good, that felt a bit odd, strange and out of place with Dolly’s character.
I think any dissent has to be from the kind of person who just has to find something wrong with everything. I cannot imagine a legitimate criticism of her program to give free books to every kid.
My mother was a die hard Dolly fan. We even visited Dollywood when I was a kid. One of her favorite movies was with Dolly and Sylvester Stallone called Rhinestone. She watched it repeatedly, and there are quotes from it that are taking up precious space in the ol' memory banks.
If you've never heard the 45 of Jolene played at 33, give it a listen.
Rhinestone! I just watched for first time the other day. I had made my partner watch Rocky to see a different side of Stallone, and she is a huge Dolly Parton fan.
Rhinestone was hilarious and great to watch just because Stallone and Parton were having _so much fun_ together. No sense of sexual attraction, just having a damn great time having fun. Could not help but enjoy that, separate from it genuinely being a fun movie.
Does a great job interviewing Dolly and discussing with her (and those two are around her) who she is, her life events, her thoughts on life. I knew people loved Dolly Parton before I listened but didn't really know why and the podcast helped me understand a bit more of it. It features a LOT of one-on-one time with Dolly in a way that I don't often find docu-series do. It's fantastic!
One minor fact about Dolly I've always found fascinating is that she was married to the same dude for almost 60 years, until he passed away recently. I mean, being as famous as she was as an entertainer - that just seems like an extreme anomaly.
George Benson is probably a better example. Like another commenter points out, though, it might just be bias due to the media reporting more on drama than celebrity wedding anniversaries. But, I must admit, I do often look up biographies of entertainers I like and it is quite unusual for them to have a "normal" romantic life.
I guess the fact that I'm not mildy surprised that people can be married for 60 years says something about how different our cultures are? Even though we're on HN discussing so many other things we have in common.
It's not unheard of. But I guess it's a mix of several small factors:
1. divorce rates have been rising for decades.
2. 60 years is a very long time, and that means Dolly would have had to marry around 18-20. Marrying that young these days for my generation very much is an anomaly, and people are putting off marriage more and more these days.
3. Celebrity culture in particular has a much more tumultuous relationship. In a number of cases, marriage may simply be another influential tool to manage fame and wealth rather than an act of love and caring.
I think money, fame, celebrity status, etc. often creates pressures on the relationship.
Kind of like how it sometimes pushes people into drug addictions. That's a stereotype that we've all heard about since kids, but it wasn't until relatively recently that I thought about it seriously that it occurred to me that a touring celebrity musician's life can be stressful and the drugs can be (or start out as) a pressure valve release. I think that part of it clicked to me when I heard a musician being interviewed about it, I forget which. Maybe it was a Beatle talking about their early amphetamine days.
I had a friend in the mid-90s that was in a mildly successful band. They did a few national tours as opener for bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers. I met up with him once while he was out on tour. I was thinking he was living his best life, like he was gonna brag about the lifestyle. Just the opposite. He hated touring, said it was very stressful, and that he just wanted to eat a home-cooked meal and sleep in the same bed more than two nights in a row. And yes, he said industry folks were constantly pushing free drugs.
Re the drug addictions - another thing to note about touring musicians is that there's a lot of downtime. New cities every day, not much to do until your show in the evening. Pretty easy to slip into unhealthy habits.
Yeah clearly there are alternatives, and plenty of musicians are able to find them. If you're already an addict though, there's not much stopping you from continuing that lifestyle, other than the ability to secure the next fix.
> but it wasn't until relatively recently that I thought about it seriously that it occurred to me that a touring celebrity musician's life can be stressful and the drugs can be (or start out as) a pressure valve release
The 2017 documentary about Avicii [0] does a great job of showing this specific case. He was an introvert so he started drinking to be more comfortable on stage. As he got more famous, the pressure to create more hit records grew and grew. David Guetta explains it better than I could and he's world famous in his own right.
Highly recommend watching it and consider it MUCH better than the 2024 documentary.
Do we have actual data on whether or not celebrities have more volatile relationships?
My gut feeling says they may very well be. But I feel it could also just be the media being bloodthirsty towards celebrity drama skewing our perception of it.
> Do we have actual data on whether or not celebrities have more volatile relationships?
Yes, they are legitimately more volatile [1]
> I find that the overall divorce rate for celebrities during their first 16 years of marriage is 52%, compared to 31% for the UK population as a whole.
>Celebrity first marriages fare worse than subsequent marriages with 57% versus 47% ending in divorce within 16 years, compared to 35% and 28% respectively for UK
My favorite Dolly story that she sometimes tells in talk shows was when she heard about a Dolly Parton Look Alike contest and entered it. She came in second place.
Except for the part where they try to inject their woke agenda into it by trying to suggest Jolene is a lesbian song. Nothing wrong with LGBTQIA+ but that part was super cringe as it was clear they were inserting their own adgenda rather than just interviewing Dolly Parton
If you are curious to know more about Dolly, I wholeheartedly recommend the podcast series “Dolly Parton’s America”. One of the best podcast series I’ve listened to and gave me so much respect for Dolly. The world is a little dimmer without her in it!
Even if, say, hypothetically, that I agreed with you, we don't need to bring up that name in association with this perfect angel of a lady on this sad day.
Let's just say that she's a wonderful person and an excellent example and leave it at that.
Sierra Ferrell does a pretty good rendition of that. Its actually nice to know that Dolly got to hear/see/meet Sierra.. One of a few who might be able to haul a chunk of Dolly's influence forward.
RIP. We went to Dollywood last year and I highly recommend it! It was a fun, family-friendly park, and one of the things I was impressed by was how helpful and happy to be there all the workers were. Seemed like a bunch of friendly veterans who took our tickets and let us in.
More focus on the ride theming makes it a standout park in the USA. Also no students being exploited as interns for work programs which is a nice change.
It used to be lot worse before the 2018 rebranding put Dolly Parton's name in place of a Lost Cause associated term. The old Dixie Stampede was Civil War themed and had plenty of Confederate flags and other things that were questionable in a restaurant/show asking people to pick North and South sides.
talk about the economic impact Dolly has had in her home of East Tennessee around Sieverville, pigeon forge, Gatlinburg and surrounding towns among great Smokey Mountains Appalachia. She is a deified saint among these communities for her work helping people there.
The company Dolly helped build to run Dollywood (and Kennywood and other attractions) Herchend Entertainment bought Kentucky Kingdom out of a lengthy auction process (caused by Six Flags bankrupting the park). So far it has seemed a blessing for the park, watching it slowly transform to be more family-friendly and much better maintained than the last steward (Six Flags).
I put her in my pantheon with Johnny Cash. Turns out Cash introduced her on her Grand Ole Opry debut in 1959, when she was 13. She killed it. Parton said later she was best friends with Johnny and June.
When Michael Jackson died, reaction online was so sudden it made Google search backend stumble... They didn't have a solution to auto-hotspot-protect half the planet searching his name suddenly.
I'll be interested to see if the mitigations hold today.
0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doz1QJ7LwjA
I am a fan of covers, like Johny Cash's NIN "Hurt" or Marylin Manson's Depeche "Personal Jesus". If anyone has faves regardless of the genre, please share.
A band called Lake Street Dive has a phenomenal cover of Hall & Oates’ “Rich Girl”.
Scary Pockets is a group with rotating artists (formed by Patreon’s founder/CEO), their covers of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” are two I return to frequently.
She ended up having Chip Young lay it down on the record since her long fingernails made it difficult to nail consistently. This is also why if you watch videos of her playing guitar she plays in open tunings [1].
0: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/31/dolly-parton-r...
1: https://www.guitarworld.com/features/how-does-dolly-parton-p...
https://chipmunkson16speed.bandcamp.com/album/vol-1
I don't really like country music, but Dolly always seemed somewhat down-to-earth and pretty decent.
Of course, she also proves the very point of there being no ethical billionaire, being "only" worth some 450 million instead. Likely because she gave so much of her wealth back to her communities instead. RIP Dolly, indeed.
What a positive legacy to leave - good example for others.
Some songs I added to my playlist :)
We're worse off.
R.I.P. Dolly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRPdwWzTTi8
A humorous response to whenever someone says "country music" is: "Which country?"
I wish other celebrities did as much as her. Her Imagination Library (https://imaginationlibrary.com) is just one example of her giving back to the community.
Amazing contributions to many aspects of life
I just think it is an interesting topic in the framing of content policing and what not, it would be interesting to know what you took from the program.
[1] https://imaginationlibrary.com/ [2] https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/03/01/589912466/dolly-p...
>> That year, Parton explained that as well as improving child literacy, “it’s the fact they get recognised. They get this little book with their little name on it in the mail, and they feel special. They start taking pride in themselves, and they know that somebody out there is thinking of [them].”
Thank you, Dolly. That meant a lot to us, and millions upon millions of other people too.
My kid's nursery gave out books from Dolly. It was a little ceremony, my kid loved it. We still have them.
But I was really surprised, I thought it was joke, why would Dolly care about my Kid's reading? but she really did. She really did care about a bunch of kids in inner city london.
Obviously I am not blessed with millions, but Dolly does lead by example. I need to do better.
What an apparent demonstration that not everyone is gifted the same amount of generosity.
Probably better than whichever flavor of ideological bullshit our politicians would send, anyway.
https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/dissertations/mw22vh301
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02702711.2019.16...
https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/rrq.7010...
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Judith-Butler/publicati...
If you've never heard the 45 of Jolene played at 33, give it a listen.
Rhinestone was hilarious and great to watch just because Stallone and Parton were having _so much fun_ together. No sense of sexual attraction, just having a damn great time having fun. Could not help but enjoy that, separate from it genuinely being a fun movie.
Does a great job interviewing Dolly and discussing with her (and those two are around her) who she is, her life events, her thoughts on life. I knew people loved Dolly Parton before I listened but didn't really know why and the podcast helped me understand a bit more of it. It features a LOT of one-on-one time with Dolly in a way that I don't often find docu-series do. It's fantastic!
1. divorce rates have been rising for decades.
2. 60 years is a very long time, and that means Dolly would have had to marry around 18-20. Marrying that young these days for my generation very much is an anomaly, and people are putting off marriage more and more these days.
3. Celebrity culture in particular has a much more tumultuous relationship. In a number of cases, marriage may simply be another influential tool to manage fame and wealth rather than an act of love and caring.
Kind of like how it sometimes pushes people into drug addictions. That's a stereotype that we've all heard about since kids, but it wasn't until relatively recently that I thought about it seriously that it occurred to me that a touring celebrity musician's life can be stressful and the drugs can be (or start out as) a pressure valve release. I think that part of it clicked to me when I heard a musician being interviewed about it, I forget which. Maybe it was a Beatle talking about their early amphetamine days.
The 2017 documentary about Avicii [0] does a great job of showing this specific case. He was an introvert so he started drinking to be more comfortable on stage. As he got more famous, the pressure to create more hit records grew and grew. David Guetta explains it better than I could and he's world famous in his own right.
Highly recommend watching it and consider it MUCH better than the 2024 documentary.
0 - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7357302/
My gut feeling says they may very well be. But I feel it could also just be the media being bloodthirsty towards celebrity drama skewing our perception of it.
Yes, they are legitimately more volatile [1]
> I find that the overall divorce rate for celebrities during their first 16 years of marriage is 52%, compared to 31% for the UK population as a whole.
>Celebrity first marriages fare worse than subsequent marriages with 57% versus 47% ending in divorce within 16 years, compared to 35% and 28% respectively for UK
[1] https://marriagefoundation.org.uk/research/celebrity-divorce...
Long As I Can See The Light: https://youtu.be/tMgyIUvz9ak?si=zZq0yHRHmGl7LsFB
I was at Dollywood a few weeks ago. I highly recommend a visit if you ever get the chance. She has a fantastic legacy in more ways than one.
Let's just say that she's a wonderful person and an excellent example and leave it at that.
My coat of many colors
That my mama made for me
Made only from rags
But I wore it so proudly
Although we had no money
Well, I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My mama made for me
Emmylou Harris does a great one also.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcfyzJW-BA4
I don't think I've ever seen the interwebs talking about one thing as much as right now.
I'll be interested to see if the mitigations hold today.
But Dolly was 1000x the songwriter that Johnny Cash was.