Small but mighty
As country legend Dolly Parton turns 80, a host of stars line up to pay tribute to her unique talent
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- Bill Borrows
Dolly Parton: the Fans' Story is on Radio 2 on Saturday at 12 midnight. Add it to your collection
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It took some time before I realised what was so disquieting about Radio 2’s celebratory Dolly Parton: the Fans’ Story. It wasn’t the number or calibre of famous people lining up to pay obeisance to the “Queen of Country” – including musical A-listers from Deborah Harry to Melanie C and Gloria Estefan to Mark Ronson – or that words seemed not quite enough to pay the requisite amount of homage. Rather, it was the eerie feeling this was some kind of eulogy rather than a tribute to a woman who turns 80 on 19 January and who, if the preceding decades are anything to go by, has no intention of stopping any time soon.
There is certainly a justification for outlining a short list of achievements that will humble anybody who simply thinks of Dolly Parton as the small woman with big hair famous for singing Jolene – a little number she wrote in 1973 that Rolling Stone magazine ranked as the “greatest country song of all time”.
In fact, she has written more than 3,000 other songs and has been inducted into countless Halls of Fame, including those for Songwriters, Country, Rock ’n’ Roll and Gospel. Her songs include I Will Always Love You (24 million sales worldwide for Whitney Houston) and feminist anthem 9 to 5, from the soundtrack to the hit 1980 film of the same name in which she also co-starred with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
She fought for her own right in a male-dominated world
“When that came out,” reality TV star Michelle Visage tells Radio 2, “it was like, ‘Oh, she’s an actress as well.’ There isn’t much that Dolly Parton can’t do.” Visage continues: “She’s always been an icon to the LGBTQ+ community, because she did everything her way, and still does.” Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters agrees. “She’s got so many queer fans because she feels like family to us. She’s a self-professed weirdo herself, you know? She grew up feeling different. She was the one in the front yard singing to the chickens as a kid.”
Shears’s mother hails from the same part of the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee as Parton (he claims they share a grandfather) and he draws attention to the poverty the star experienced in her early years. As Deborah Harry, another uber-fan, puts it, “She’s come from the lowest level of the economic climbing ladder in our country and become this fabulous, wonderful, generous person. She is smart, wise, funny and beautiful, and it’s hard to marry all those qualities.” It is, however, the kindness and generosity of spirit that people keep coming back to.
Dolly Parton headling on Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage in 2014. Getty
Zoe Ball has met her several times. “If you ever try to talk about the Grammy Awards she’s won or how she’s made it easier for women in music because of the way that she fought for her own right from a very young age in a very male-dominated world, she’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m just little ol’ me’.” Suzi Quatro also acknowledges the debt. “[She showed you had to] say what you mean, and mean what you say, in every single situation. Dolly cleverly took the male fantasy and built it into her persona. So, if there is sexism, make no mistake, Dolly’s in charge, 100 per cent.”
“She’s given so much back,” continues Ball. “She’s really proud of the literacy campaign that’s helped to put books into communities and strongly believes in young people having access to books.” Parton’s Imagination Library initiative is a free book-gifting programme that mails high-quality, age-appropriate books to children from birth until their fifth birthday. To date it has distributed some 300 million books.
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Recent ill health means this 5ft legend in rhinestone may have scaled back the touring but, as she told People magazine in November about her forthcoming milestone, “So what? Look at all I’ve done in 80 years. I feel like I’m just getting started. I ain’t got time to get old!” She remains beyond compare.
Authors
Bill Borrows
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