photo: Dean Budnick
Here are some reflections on the life and legacy of the late, great Dolly Parton by numerous artists...
Paul McCartney
The magnificent star Dolly Parton has died and it is so sad. She was such a wonderful woman. I first met her in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry where she had been playing with the country star Porter Wagoner and was about to start her solo career. She was so bubbly and full of life it is difficult to take in the news that she has passed. Her songwriting, her singing and her philanthropy were unrivaled in the world of country music and it is hard to imagine living in a world without Dolly. She was a very clever business woman who understood the value of her music and, most importantly, the effect that she had on the people of the world. There was no greater honour for me than to have her sing my song Let It Be and, even though I only made a small contribution to it, I am so honoured that she did it. I am so proud to have known her and admire her unique talents.
Thanks Dolly for the beautiful music you gave me and the whole world. We will always love you, god bless and rest in peace. You were the best.
Brandi Carlile
Dolly traded in her butterfly wings today.
I felt her leaving all week and I’ve been singing “Coat Of Many Colors” with I’m With Her and asking folks to pray everyday. I don’t even know why.
She took my face in her hands and prayed over me once. I’ve never been the same since. Her prayers were maybe more powerful than mine or anyone else’s, because that prayer has had a very long rainbow colored halo and I hope it lasts me my whole life.
I’m married to an agnostic Londoner, and I can’t help but laugh out loud when I think of the raptured audience at Glastonbury in the palm of Dolly’s hands, as she ended her once in a lifetime set by shouting “can I get an amen?!”
The sound of two hundred thousand immediate British “AMENS” is something that causes me to burst into American hysterics at least once a week!
Gillian Welch
My 10th birthday was supposed to be a wondrous slumber party with all my friends, a backyard piñata, and a trip to a famous ice cream parlor, where a mountain of ice cream scoops in a wooden trough was paraded to the table while someone banged a bass marching drum. But as the afternoon progressed, I had begun to feel decidedly peaky, clammy, and queasy. When they put the 30 scoop sundae down in front of me I realized with horror that I was going to be sick and bolted for the bathroom in front of all my friends. I did not make it. Had I not been so very sick I surely would have died from embarrassment. I was violently ill once more on the drive home. The party was ruined, the slumber party cancelled, and all the parents were called to collect my friends. But some of them could not be reached, and so while I suffered on the pullout couch in the guest room with a bucket next to my bed, I could hear the rest of my friends down the hall in sleeping bags in my room laughing and playing games and having a grand time. It was the worst birthday ever. The next morning, feeling miserable and dejected, I heard a soft knock at the door and in walked Dolly. She stood in the open doorway with the full force of the Southern California sun blazing behind her, making a radiant halo of her platinum hair. She looked like an angelic visitation in casual denim. She had come over to rehearse a musical number for a TV show she was doing with my parents. With the utmost tenderness and understanding she said, “Oh honey, I heard you were sick and your party was all ruined. I’m so sorry.”
I am so sorry that all that sunshine, compassion, and towering humanity and artistry is now gone from this earth. I believe that Dolly is now one with the light that she shined all around her everywhere she went. She left us so much music and truly made the world a better place, through her art and her example. You will be so missed, but you will never be forgotten. Rest now. Nashville mourns.
Margo Price
Dolly Parton was a living saint and a national treasure. Her songwriting and philanthropy didn’t just reshape country music, they changed the world. She was famously non-political, but she never needed a podium. She showed us exactly where she stood through the causes she championed and the lyrics she wrote. Songs like 9 to 5 and Just Because I’m a Woman became anthems, for the working class, for women, for the gay community and anyone else who needed to hear they weren’t alone.
Dolly, thank you for the music, the books, the glitter, and the magic. You gave us so much more than songs, you gave us permission to be ourselves. I will always love you.
Sheryl Crow
There is a hole in the universe. There was and will never be anyone like Dolly. I did not know her well but I loved her like family… we all did. She was an incredible story teller musically and in real life.
But she was also a loving and compassionate human being, led by goodness in all she did. I will miss knowing she is on the planet but she will never be far away. RIP Dolly, we love you.
Del McCoury
Our family was sad to hear about Dolly’s passing. I remember her early days in Nashville with Porter Wagoner. She went on to become one of the greatest singers and songwriters there ever was. I was proud that she thought enough to record one of my songs “I Feel The Blues Moving In.” I tell the crowd I don’t even want to sing it after she did!
She touched the world and my family. The boys recorded with her at Dollywood on a record called Heartsongs: Live from Home. Here’s some pictures from 1994 with her. I’m holding my grandson Jacob.
Warren Haynes
In this world of music and celebrities, Dolly was one of the very few who was loved by everyone. Her appeal crossed over into every category of music. It was uncanny. Fans and artists in every genre seemed to all agree on Dolly Parton. Perhaps because she always came across as a genuine human being who loved everyone, loved life, and saw, early on, the need to spread the message of inclusion and mutual love.
I remember as a kid when I first discovered her music. It wasn’t categorically the type of music I was drawn to at that time, but something about her songs and performances connected with me when similar artists didn’t. Then as a young songwriter discovering that she wrote her own songs when most Country artists at that time- especially female artists- did not, my respect for her grew even more. Maybe there was an added connection because I grew up close to where she did, but I loved ‘Coat of Many Colors’ and ‘Jolene’ as a teenager, long before it was hip, and I remember watching her TV show where every night she would close the show with ‘I Will Always Love You’. Again, a simple song with a simple message that somehow transcended the norm and touched your soul. And somehow she was able to navigate a successful career, decade after decade, and maintain her integrity as so few others have.
A few years ago when she announced that she was gonna record a Rock and Roll album I was intrigued like everyone else. When I got the call to contribute to her collaboration with Steven Tyler, ‘I Want You Back’, I was thrilled. I’ve been fortunate to have guested on a lot of cool projects through the years, but that one brought a huge smile to my face. So sad to say good-bye to another incredible artist who brought joy to so many lives, both publicly and behind the scenes. I think I can speak for everyone when I say “We Will Always Love You”.
Grace Bowers
When I was 17 I was invited to be on a tv show with Dolly Parton, it was one of the first big opportunities I ever got. I’ll never forget the love she showed me that day. Whether you were a staff member or performer, she treated everyone with equal amounts of kindness. Since then it’s something I’ve always kept in the back of my mind, to treat everyone around you graciously. Thank you Dolly for inspiring me and so many others. Rest in peace💛
Allison Russell
Oh Dolly
The Last Halcyon Haze of Summer
You slipped out of your skin
While All the Wildflowers in Tennessee
Bloomed to Wake their Queen
You flew away on a sunlit Tuesday
The very date Paris once was Freed
Back when America fought Fascists
And you, not yet a dream
How portentous, how resonant to me
For who but you was ever further
From forcing others to false banners
From fanning hateful creeds?
The Faith that some would wield as weapon
You wore with Loving Kindness,Divine Empathy
You lead by practice, never preaching
Neither judging nor condemning nor deceiving
Like Your Jesus, Ever Loving
Embracing All Humanity
By example leading, by creativity and generosity
By books, by songs, by stories
By dress up joy, by humour, by whimsy
By Smoky Mountain Wonder
By invitation for all Seekers
To be welcomed as Found Family
You never cared where we grew
Nor disdained our varied colours
Or who or how we loved
Or what we thought we knew
You cherished ALL Wildflowers
Of every shape and stripe and hue
You loved us all as Equals
And Dolly, Oh Dolly, how we all loved you
In these Days of Violent Fracture
In this Season of Our Discontent
We stand at last United, at least on this one Truth
Dolly Parton, we will always, always, love you too
How lucky were we
To live in the Time of Dolly?
— AR #allisonrussell #rainbowcoalition
@dollyparton Eternal & Everywhere Now 💔
ps I don’t believe in the American Dream but I believe in Dolly’s Dream of America.
Jack White (Jolene, live in London, 8/25/26)
Jorma Kaukonen
There will never be another.
Bela Fleck
Dolly - you truly made the world a better place. We will miss you a lot around here...
