All posts tagged: Parton

Bono ‘can’t listen’ to Dolly Parton duet recorded just before her death

Bono ‘can’t listen’ to Dolly Parton duet recorded just before her death

Published by Daniella Wilson

Bono has said he can’t listen to a song on the forthcoming 16th U2 album that marks Dolly Parton’s final recording – as she was sick and largely confined to bed rest when she chose to collaborate with him. Parton, who died with cancer at the age of 80 in August, “got out of her bed to sing this song”, Bono told Rolling Stone. “And you can hear that. And I can’t even listen to it now.” The legendary country star appears on “Torn”, a track on U2’s Carnaval De Luz, which will be released 13 November. Bono revealed that he and Parton had previously discussed working together, but that Parton had turned down a proposed track, saying it was “a little too Irish for me”. To make it up to Bono, Parton offered her own song to him. “She said, ‘I got this song. It’s called ‘Torn,’ and do you wanna see where you can take it somewhere else, maybe?’” Bono and Dolly Parton (Getty) Bono then worked on Parton’s lyrics with Snow Patrol’s …

Brad Paisley performs heart-wrenching Dolly Parton duet alone after her death

Brad Paisley performs heart-wrenching Dolly Parton duet alone after her death

Published by Daniella Wilson

Country singer Brad Paisley honored his late musical collaborator Dolly Parton with a teary-eyed solo performance of the song they once sang together. Days after Parton died at age 80, Paisley surprised fans at his concert in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with an acoustic performance of “When I Get Where I’m Going,” the 2005 ballad he recorded with the late Queen of Country. When Paisley performed the song Thursday, 27 August, he was moved to tears as he told the crowd: “When I recorded that song and sent it to Dolly, I said, ‘A couple of people in my life I’ve lost, and I didn’t know if this would relate to you.’” “She immediately said, ‘Yes, let me sing on that.’ And [she] did,” he said, according to a Facebook video posted by the venue, Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater. The song explores the concept of the afterlife and reuniting with loved ones in heaven. Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton (pictured in 2017) collaborated on the 2005 song ‘When I Get Where I’m Going’ (Getty Images for ACM) Paisley …

Heidi Montag Recalls Dolly Parton Defending Her Plastic Surgery

Heidi Montag Recalls Dolly Parton Defending Her Plastic Surgery

Published by Daniella Wilson

Heidi Montag is remembering the kindness the late Dolly Parton showed her during one of the most heavily criticized periods of her life. Following news of Parton’s death earlier this week, Montag took to X on Friday night to pay tribute to the country music legend, recalling how Parton defended her after she underwent plastic surgery. “When I was at one of the hardest and most criticized moment of my life after my plastic surgery, Dolly was one of the only people in the industry who didn’t take the opportunity to drag me down,” Montag wrote. According to Montag, she recalled that Parton said at the time, “I had probably done the same thing if I was her age and could afford it, if I thought I needed it.” In 2009, Montag famously underwent 10 plastic surgery procedures in one day, including breast augmentation, a nose job revision and chin reduction. She faced intense scrutiny over the procedures, with the aftermath documented on The Hills, including a heartbreaking scene in which she revealed her new …

The Dolly Parton covers everyone should hear

The Dolly Parton covers everyone should hear

Published by Sam Flores

Days after Dolly Parton died, we’re still discovering ways that she made people’s lives better. Whether through her body of work or quieter philanthropic contributions, Parton made it clear she wanted the best for humankind. Everybody loved Dolly because Dolly rooted for everybody. Trying to rank her best songs, however, is where her unifying powers hit a wall. Parton once estimated that she composed or collaborated on more than 3000 tunes in her lifetime, recording some 450 of them. That drive, talent and output won her 11 Grammys, including one for Lifetime Achievement, and earned her 55 nominations. Ticking off essential titles without much fuss is easy, but was “Jolene” better than, say, “9 to 5”? Would you rank “Coat of Many Colors” more highly than “My Tennessee Mountain Home”? Don’t even get the Dolly Parton scholars started. Actually, I take that back – consulting her most devoted fans will open new frontiers for you. Since I know Parton’s discography more broadly than deeply, I’m steering this musical road trip in a slightly different direction. …

9 Fabulous Dolly Parton Performances You Can Watch At Home Now

9 Fabulous Dolly Parton Performances You Can Watch At Home Now

Published by Sam Flores

Dolly Parton It’s easy to forget that, in addition to the fact she was an award-winning singer-songwriter, cherished philanthropist and the co-owned of a literal theme park in her honour, Dolly Parton also forged a successful career for herself as an actor. After establishing herself as a hugely successful figure in the country music scene, Dolly turned her hand to acting in the early 1980s, going on to share the screen with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Many of her films are still available to watch today – and if you’re looking for a way to celebrate Dolly’s life and legacy this summer bank holiday, we reckon checking a couple of them out could be a great way to do it. Here are just nine of the Dolly performances you can watch at home right now… 9 To 5 (1980) Dolly Parton in 9 To 5 Never one to do anything by halves, for her movie debut, Dolly shared the screen with Oscar winner Jane Fonda and nominee Lily Tomlin in the Southern workplace …

Dolly Parton Soars Back Up The Charts As The World Remembers Her Through Her Music

Dolly Parton Soars Back Up The Charts As The World Remembers Her Through Her Music

Published by Sam Flores

Dolly Parton on stage at Glastonbury in 2014 As the world mourns Dolly Parton, a surge in streams has seen some of her biggest hits soaring back up the UK singles chart. On Friday evening, the Official Charts Company revealed that the pioneering country star’s signature hit Jolene had re-entered the top 10, sitting at number nine. Just behind at 12 was another of Dolly’s hits, 9 To 5, which previously peaked at number 47 in the UK upon its release in 1981, marking a new chart high for the classic tune. A third showing for Dolly in this week’s top 40 comes in the form of her Kenny Rogers duet Islands In The Stream, which is currently number 13, while her hits collection Diamonds & Rhinestones is the fifth biggest album in the UK this week. “Dolly Parton’s extraordinary legacy continues to shine through the Official Charts,” the Official Charts Company’s co-managing directors said in a statement on Friday. “To see Jolene, 9 to 5 and Islands In The Stream return to the Top …

There Are So Many Conspiracy Theories About Dolly Parton and Vaccines

There Are So Many Conspiracy Theories About Dolly Parton and Vaccines

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Conspiracy theories surrounding singer and philanthropist Dolly Parton’s recent death have flooded the internet, referencing everything from satanic rituals to cloning. But one conspiracy theory has dominated all the others: the claim that Parton’s death was caused by “turbo cancer” brought on by the Covid vaccine. There is no evidence to support the claim that Parton’s death had anything to do with the vaccine. Parton, 80, died after “a short battle with cancer,” her family said in a statement. In May, Parton shared that she was responding well to treatment related to her immune system and digestive system. In 2020, the singer donated $1 million to fund research in support of the vaccine. The following year, she filmed herself getting the vaccine, singing an adapted version of her hit song Jolene before receiving the shot. “Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you, please don’t hesitate,” Parton sang in a video. Now, a number of influential right-wing conspiracy theorists and MAGA-aligned pundits have spent the past few days claiming—or, in many cases, suggesting—that the vaccine …

Resilience Is the Dolly Parton Way

Resilience Is the Dolly Parton Way

Published by Jenni Sidey

Dolly Parton, who died yesterday at age 80, was famous for her music and for her dogged resilience. The odds seemed to be against her from the start, but she overcame many obstacles. Raised in rural poverty, Parton transcended her circumstances and became a successful female artist in a male-dominated industry. Throughout her life, she responded to adversity by reframing negative experiences into positivity that fueled momentum. Her mindset was one of her greatest tools. Here are some of her most famous beliefs and sayings, lessons that can help us all grapple with hard times: “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” We don’t have to feel stuck in life. We can pivot to a new opportunity. We can shift our perspective; instead of seeing a dead end, we can view an untenable situation as a fork in the road. “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain!” Dolly reframed adversity as a journey of hope. Adversity is a prerequisite …

Dolly Parton embodied the best parts of Appalachia

Dolly Parton embodied the best parts of Appalachia

Published by Sam Flores

My cousin tells a story: Several years before I was born, she was sitting on our great-grandmother’s lap at her modest home in a hollow in Eastern Kentucky. It was the late 1970s, when Dolly Rebecca Parton was well on her way to conquering the worlds of pop, Hollywood and business. They were watching a rerun of “The Porter Wagoner Show,” the program that had helped launch Dolly to country music stardom, on a little TV set using rabbit ears, when she appeared. Even though our granny was, like all people in the mountains, well acquainted with Dolly by that point, she was still transfixed. Using the descriptive phrasing that was common then among older people, she said, “That is the prettiest little girl I have ever seen.” It was a simple, truthful observation from a woman who herself knew the bleaker side of life, birthing and raising 11 children in a time when money was scarce and hard work provided barely enough to scrape by. But as news of Dolly’s death at the age …

I interviewed Dolly Parton – this is what she taught me

I interviewed Dolly Parton – this is what she taught me

Published by Daniella Wilson

I don’t often get nervous interviewing people, but Dolly Parton was someone I’d idolised since I was a child, driving my family crazy with off-key renditions of “9 to 5” and “Jolene”. Alongside my grandma and Shania Twain, she was one of the three big role models in my life. She was the queen of country music and so much more: a pioneer, a business genius, an exceptional songwriter and storyteller, a producer, a benefactor… in short: a one-of-a-kind woman. As someone who has often been made to feel as though I am “too much” – something I know many women will relate to – Parton seemed to exist to tell you to be more. So in 2023, when I finally got the email that I had 40 minutes with her, after around three years of hounding her poor publicist, my heart flipped. Parton was notoriously tricky to interview – a mastermind when it came to dancing around a question she didn’t care for. But the moment she answered the call, that famous southern trill …