Dolly Parton has died

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.

“Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has gifted over 318 million free books to children worldwide since its inception”

Amazing contributions to many aspects of life

If anyone hasn't listened to "Dolly Parton's America" (https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/dolly-partons-america), I highly recommend it.

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!

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.

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.

A fun YouTube video of Dolly Parton in an Irish pub: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqdKrv1Vh-g

“Dolly Parton makes an impromptu appearance at Páidí Ó Sé’s pub in Dún Chaoin, Co. Kerry and takes to the stage to entertain the locals.

While on holiday in Kerry, singer Dolly Parton paid a visit to former Kerry footballer Páidí Ó Sé’s pub, where she performs her song ‘Coat of Many Colours’ accompanied by musicians Steve Cooney and Seamus Begley.

Dolly signs off at the end of her performance,

Thank you very much and welcome to Dinglewood

This episode of Cursaí was broadcast on 1 October 1990.”

It's heartening to see tributes and obits in publications worldwide. All respectful, and genuinely bereft. One obit, though, stood out to me from the dozen or so I've read so far. It's this one [0] in the FT, which I think deserves a wider audience [1].

[0] https://www.ft.com/content/c57569fb-c1ee-476a-aa31-d402e2f3b...

[1] https://archive.is/9nHs1

Random fact, Dolly the cloned sheep was named after Dolly Parton:

"Dolly is derived from a mammary gland cell and we couldn't think of a more impressive pair of glands than Dolly Parton's."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_(sheep)

In the end I think her generosity outshone her other famous attributes.

The US's only secular saint. Her memorial service will need to be held in a football stadium to handle the number of people who want to pay their last respects.

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.

I still remember how hard I was struck by the scene in The Orville, where someone from another planet hears a Dolly Parton song playing and asks who it is. He goes on to say, "She speaks with the might of a hundred soldiers!"

She did. She is one of our species' great poets.

The more & More I learned about her over the years, It felt like she just never seamed to give into the system and always found a way to keep give back to the world that corrupts so many.

She made money doing what she loved, and gave a huge amount of it away to help others. Can't ask for better than that, she will be missed.

Outside of her impact on the music industry she also had an outsized impact on families with young children.

She started a charity called Imagination Library [1] that sends free monthly books to children under six in the US, Canada and even expanded to the UK, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. I will always be grateful for this.

[1] https://imaginationlibrary.com/

We used to play Coat of Many Colors a lot in my house when I was a kid.

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

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.

What an amazing woman and person in general.

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.

Feynman was apparently a fan, too. His name for quarks was "partons". She just played the dumb showbiz blonde, or as she said "it takes a lot of money to look this cheap". Others in this discussion have more to say about this, but - she was obviously a super nice and thoughtful person.

Here's my favorite track of hers, Todd Terje mix of "Jolene": https://youtu.be/Xkl36pu8aLY

I grew up in East TN, and this feels like the death of Queen Elizabeth, Mother Teresa, and your favorite fun aunt all rolled up into one. Except no one had a bad word to say about Dolly. She was beloved around the world, but she was an institution back home.

Dolly Parton was an incredibly savvy business person, talented songwriter and performer, and an outstanding human being. One in a billion.

I will always remember her appearance on the Late Show with Steven Colbert where she brought him to tears with an a cappella song: https://youtu.be/R91VssUiGiY

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.

Miley Cyrus is Dolly Parton's god daughter, Miley did a really phenomenal version of “Jolene” - probably my favourite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOwblaKmyVw - She also did a great version together with Dolly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RINEaGraHMc

Dolly Parton's film production company Sandollar produced the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_(film...

End of an era. She was a very active philanthropist and will be dearly missed for all the good she brought to the world.

I was in awe of her books for kids program.

Simple, direct philanthropy that helps any/all kids:

https://imaginationlibrary.com/

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!

Fun fact: Dolly, the cloned sheep, was named after Dolly Parton. The sheep was cloned from a mammary gland cell, so...

Very sad to hear. Rest in peace.

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.

She still has a hit single dropping in 2045.

R.I.P. Dolly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRPdwWzTTi8

Shameless plug for the Dolly Parton Book Club, for which you can register your child (even not yet born) and they will send them a free age-appropriate book every month until they turn 5. https://imaginationlibrary.com/

I'm going home, I'm going home...

Long As I Can See The Light: https://youtu.be/tMgyIUvz9ak?si=zZq0yHRHmGl7LsFB

9 to 5 is such a great song. Adding it as I don't see it linked here. Strong pro-worker message too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbxUSsFXYo4

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has been gifting free books to kids from birth to age 5 for over three decades: https://imaginationlibrary.com/

Stars who were born into poverty sometimes struggle with being generous (Charlie Chaplin for example). But that certainly didn't seem to be an issue for Dolly. What a life.

She was truly a gem. Beautiful inside and out. May she rest in peace.

She always seemed so full of life, it's difficult to believe she's gone.

In an odd coincidence, Jolene by Dolly Parton played on YouTube Music as I drove home with my daughter. When we got home, my wife told me Dolly Parton had died. I don't listen to much of her though I'm fond of this song, and we get the Imagination Library books. Seems like she was good person, and a great singer and songwriter.

You know how, sometimes, you downright think "that is impossible!", with certain people, when you hear of their death. And then, of course, you realize ...

This.-

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

If anyone wants to listen to an underrated Dolly track, my rec is Silver Dagger.

I found this remix music video strangely hypnotic when I happened across it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExeQM08TwbE

My wife is at an eye appointment. I have no idea what to expect when she gets home. After Dolly's super bowl performance my wife (and her mother) were crying at just the thought of her passing away.

Amazing human who popularized the amazing Country Music. Listening to Country Music radio all day as respects.

I guess this is why English Wikipedia was down. It's back up now.

I originally had no idea Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" was a Dolly Parton cover.

Dolly was one of the unequivocal good ones. Damn girl, RIP.

People suspected the health news in the last ~months before to be more serious than initially alleged to not be serious at all. Now they were confirmed.

Of all her songs I think Jolene is by far the most interesting. Several copied the song, such as Miley Cyrus, and while not bad, it seems to not quite capture the underlying idea of the song. I have a hard time Miley being as plausible in the "please don't steal my man just because you can" compared to Dolly. It's like a whole generation in between and the lyrics just don't really fit much at all to Miley, even if one reasons that it is the melody that is more important - but even then, Miley's voice seems to fit to other songs better than happy-go-lucky country songs.

My daughter loves Dolly from her books and I love reading to her. What a win win, RIP Dolly you are a class act.

I remember in the early-80s, maybe 5th grade, being taught fractions, specifically the "Dolly Parton fraction", where the numerator is larger than the denominator. I've got a feeling they don't teach that anymore.

We need more celebrities to step up like Dolly. You will be missed.

I will be crying 9-5 today.

Sad news - she was a treasure.

She was such an impressively kind person.

RIP. One of the last real ones.

Heartbreaking. Rest in peace Dolly.

I saw Dolly at Hardly Strictly in 2005. She was great.

RIP Dolly, she was a good one.

I knew she had been sick recently but always assumed she'd bounce back.

We're worse off.

Make time to listen to Dolly Parton's America podcast:

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/dolly-partons-america

She was, I believe, the largest or one of the largest private donors to the moderna covid vaccine

Here is her families statement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9govup-IG3c

She did so much for children's literacy, underserved children have benefited from her reading program. I support her book club because it makes humans smarter. The world really lost a great spirit.

Dolly Parton seemed nice on that episode of The Orville.

very, very sad. she was such a good person in this age of trump especially in the country music scene