Dolly Parton

Yes.

Yup.

DOUBLE YES.

Yep.

Yes.

OK. Just checking.

I can understand having that gut reaction, OP, but suspect you're just being a cunt.

Why didn't they give her a microphone so she could at least pretend to sing live?

No. You’re not.

I don’t find her creepy, but I get tired of hearing/reading people splooge over her. I appreciate seeing someone actually post a different opinion.

Maybe she’s fine. Maybe it’s just celebrity culture I find boring and tiresome. Always the same people we’re conditioned to worship instead of living our own lives.

"worship instead of living our own lives"

Who on earth "worships" her and doesn't actually live their own life?

She use to have a light but in the last few years she seems like an empty vessel.

She has a sinister vibe now.

Dolly Parton has released a memoir people and nobody seems to care.

[quote] I don’t find her creepy, but I get tired of hearing/reading people splooge over her. I appreciate seeing someone actually post a different opinion.

You just like being and seeing people be obstinate. That’s fine, but just admit it.

Some people worship Jesus. Some worship Buddha. Some worship Mohammad.

EVERYBODY worships Dolly. And if you don’t, then you’re the creepy one.

I loved her in 9 to 5. The scene where she swung Dabney Coleman around in his chair and tied him up. Hoo boy. I'd love her to tie me up, sometime!

Dabney Coleman is sexy in 9 to 5. I want to tie him up too.

I love her.

But she’s starting to look like a crone. She needs a little fat and to cover the boobs

disturbing

I like Dolly, but it does seem like people need be a big fan of an "old person." Betty White was the previous adored old person. Now that Betty died, we turn our attention to Dolly.

[quote]Am I the only one that finds her creepy? The only one that can't stand her?

The big-haired very-short southern woman with a high-pitched singing voice and cartoonishly large fake boobs was an odd persona to me as a kid. Plus I always hated country music and that whole Hee Haw-type atmosphere. As an adult, I wouldn't say I can't stand her since she seems nice and self-deprecating, but I don't understood the adoration.

When I was a teenager I raped Minnie Pearls dead body!

*don't understand (was originally "never understood")

[quote]r20 The big-haired very-short southern woman with a high-pitched singing voice and cartoonishly large fake boobs

Her voice isn’t always high pitched!

She seems like a genuinely lovely person, but I think her singing voice is awful.

I don't find her creepy, but the version of Stairway to Heaven she did on her Rockstar album is VASTLY inferior to the bluegrass version she did on her Halos & Horns album.

Honestly, the bluegrass version was the best cover of that song I have ever heard. I don't know why she would do it again, and go for a straight cover, when she already did such a great job taking it in a different direction.

I like Dolly (always have) and one of my favorite Dolly quotes, which I’ll have to paraphrase because I’m too lazy to google, is “It doesn’t bother me when people think I’m a dumb blonde, because I know I’m not really dumb, and I know I’m not really blonde”.

I like Dolly. She seems like a genuinely caring person. She is a philanthropist and advocate for social issues not popular among red staters.

R23, I think that is one of the most beautiful pictures of Dolly ever. I love it so much that I bought a screen print and painted canvas version of it at a pop art sale. The colors….well, they’re not really my favorite, but that picture is, so I’m very happy to have it.

Her plastic surgery face reminds me of Donald Trump. I love it.

[quote]Her plastic surgery face reminds me of Donald Trump. I love it.

She’s been very honest her entire life that she was never going for a “natural” look. She’s made more jokes about her own appearance than Joan Rivers ever did. Being honest about it only made her more likable.

And can we all give her a round of applause? She’s almost 80 and her body and boobs look better in a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders outfit than most of the 20 something year old Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders!

R30 So she is honest about it and is happy that she looks like a botox nightmare?

R31, she is. And she’s Dolly Parton! She doesn’t care what you think of her!

Dolly will be age 78 in mid-January. Let her be.

G will be 77 by March!

I won’t even reach 75 until well into the summer! I can keep on playing 40 year olds on screen for at least ten more years!

She was an amazing songwriter and wrote probably hundreds of songs, some of them forgettable and some of them really unforgettable. Plus she had a beautiful voice. If you listen to her greatest hits records from the early 1970s, you get an idea of how truly talented she was.

But I'm sick of her too and (as I said on that other thread) I think she's turned into an attention whore.

She's a class A philanthropist. And a very classy lady in the sense that she has never made her political views explicit (unless you're fucking blind, that is).

I never much cared for her music, but loved her in 9 to 5. And she does have has some top tunes under her belt. "Here You Come Again" makes me smile every time I hear it.

There are no horror stories from those who work with her. None.

That's a life well lived.

I tip my hat, ma'am.

I think people who dislike Dolly are like people who dislike Robert Downey Jr., Paul Newman, Paul Rudd, Cyndi Lauper, Jim Henson, Jennifer Connelly or Cher.

I'm not saying they're wrong.

I just think they hate joy.

She helps people. A lot of people. With genuine help, not lip service, not shallow help. She gives people good paying jobs, pays for their educations, and more. She is constantly teach people to love one another, accept one another, and be better than they were before.

She is a rare, exceptional talent, having written some of the best and most famous songs ever (even if she didn't actually sing most of them).

There it literally nothing to not like about her. I wish there were more people like Dolly in the world.

Dolly has been a true talent in country music & entertainment for decades.

Her personality is too fake, too goody two shoes for me. I bet she’s hiding something big, besides her tits, under all that happy stuff.

[quote]She was an amazing songwriter and wrote probably hundreds of songs, some of them forgettable and some of them really unforgettable.

She’s written over 3,000 according to Wikipedia.

There’s a surprising number of male vocalists out there covering “Jolene.” I love them!

[quote] I think people who dislike Dolly are like people who dislike Robert Downey Jr., Paul Newman, Paul Rudd, Cyndi Lauper, Jim Henson, Jennifer Connelly or Cher.

Outside of Paul Newman, how do any of the rest of these people compare to Dolly Parton? Cyndi Lauper is a straight up cunt and Cher isn't far behind. Paul Rudd and Jennifer Connelly are vapid and annoying (oh, and so is Cher for that matter). RDJ is overrated. And Jim Henson was helped mightily by several unsung people.

Into the swine and into the lake, Legion!

I like her, and I like her music. And by all accounts she is a better person than most of us

She wrote songs?

She puts the cunt in country music!

The thing that bugs me about her is she is to self-deprecating. At first it was a OK but then she went all in on the aww shucks I'm just a dumb hillbilly shtick, She's a brilliant business woman and artist. It's like the last ten years or so that bug me. She can get her back up when she wants. When she's serious she loses most of her hokey accent and becomes almost professorial in her eloquence, A good example of this is when Barbra Walters tried to cunt on Dolly. This is probably as close to the real Dolly as she's let anyone see in years. There's zero hokum in this interview and she schools Barbara on class.

posted the wrong link. here's the interview without the commentary

Kudos to her philanthropy, but I think cartoonish appearance is bizarre, I don't like her voice, and the huge 80s hits she had dueting with Kenny Rogers can still send me into paroxysms of rage to this day.

But I love Jim Henson.

I enjoyed her performances as much as I can like country hick music but then she endorsed or supported a former President whose name shall not be mentioned and that ended it for me. She’s a clown.

[quote]And can we all give her a round of applause? She’s almost 80 and her body and boobs look better in a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders outfit than most of the 20 something year old Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders!

And some of the cheerleaders probably felt a little threatened!

and here's the kind of Dolly singing that I love, live and real, with her parents in the audience. I wish she had done a whole album with her sisters. No one harmonizes like family and sounds beautiful. Again, she's early Dolly without the hillbilly act. She enjoyed her talent too and didn't need you to giggle at her.

[quote]I enjoyed her performances as much as I can like country hick music but then she endorsed or supported a former President whose name shall not be mentioned and that ended it for me.

She has never endorsed anyone for president.

I used to feel kinda sorry for Walters when Gilda Radner ridiculed her for pronouncing Rs like Ws.

After watching that clip at r48, not anymore.

And I write that as someone who appreciates Parton for all the reasons stated but never counted myself a super-fan.

Walters always was a mean, petty bitch.

And, one of the only things truly interesting about Walters was something she never would own-up to : she and Fidel Castro had at least a one-night stand.

I don't dislike her, OP, and I don't dislike artifice. It's only that I would like her more were she to dial down the fabrication just a notch or two, were she less adept from years of ceaseless practice at her game of playing simple and uncomplicated when shoe does so behind layers of complexity and deflection. Certainly she can be calmer and reflective and genuinely interesting. Having achieved all that she has achieved, I wish she might have relaxed the armor of the aww-shucks hillbilly holler, gaudy because she grew up dirt poor, just a simple country girl act.

I like her. I admire her deep well of talent, her tenacity, her smart decisions, her devotion to doing good works and good things to help others. But I tire of the wind-up cameras on Dolly Parton very quickly. It's just a personal reaction against what seems a great deal of work to project an unwavering image, always -- especially when there is almost certainly someone more reflective and interesting underneath. That she might want to protect her inner self against a public image I can appreciate, but the public act doesn't charm me. I know that many have different opinions and I'm glad for her that they do. I like the Dolly Parton of ¨The Grass Is Blue' more than I like the film and song '9 to 5' Dolly Parton.

Yeah what a cunt. 🙄

R56 🤣

I like her sister, Stella.

To say she isn't a fan of Trump or Republicans is quite the understatement.

National Treasure.

If the OP wasn’t already a miserable snatch, I’d wish that for him.

I never liked her BIG head on that SCRAWNY body.

I turned on the radio and I heard a song by Dolly Parton.

And she was singing:

Oh! I feel so sad! I feel so bad!

I left my mom and I left my dad.

And I just want to go home now.

I just want to go back in my Tennessee mountain home now.

Well, you know she's not gonna go back home.

And I know she's not gonna go back home.

And she knows she's never gonna go back there.

And I just want to know who's gonna go and walk her dog.

Come on guys, let’s cut to the chase. Porter Wagoner had big dick face!

I like her. Her voice has an authenticity to it you do not often hear in country music. She is very upfront about her obsession with plastic surgery and his first to poke fun at herself and is not take herself or her stardom seriously. She's very generous and time and time again has given back to the community millions of dollars without it being a humble bragging social media event.

R42, I don't know what Dolly is like in real life. And I don't know what Paul Newman, RDJ. Cher, Cyndi, Jim Henson, Rudd and Connelly are like in real life. The thing that links them for me is that they are left-leaning, philanthropic people who have/had a genuine stage/screen presence and who tend to make work that focuses on positive things.

Jim Henson never made any secret of the fact that he had an army of amazing talent behind his work. But he provided the guiding sensibility, far more so than even Walt Disney.

I'm not a huge fan of Dolly's music or her general schtick. But the world is better with her in it than not.

Dolly is a great person who has done a lot of good but the uncontrolled adulation she gets is greater than her good deeds.

Her donation to the COVID effort was touted as a huge thing but it was really about $300,000 to a researcher who had been her personal doctor.

Her Imagination Library is a fantastic program which serves 1 in 8 children in America and she deserves a lot of credit but the prevailing narrative, that Dolly gives away a lot of books is false. The Imagination Library program is only free to the recipients, governments and private organizations from the areas served pay the Imagination Library for the books. While her charity handles the choosing and distribution of the books, they are actually paid for by others, not Dolly.

Here is an example of a local library system trying to raise $75,000 so they can pay for the books in their area.

I had a taste of what Robert Downey Jr. is like, in real life. I've told this story on DL. I was working at a high-end chain hotel, in one of the hotel bars. RDJ arrive with an all-male (twinks involved) entourage and it didn't look like business. RDJ was loud, rude, demanding, obnoxious.

R67, and I had a taste of what he was like in real life, and he was completely fine.

Everyone has a bad day.

Everyone has a good day, as well.

Then he had four good days and finished with leading a flashlight tour of the American Museum of Natural History for a bunch of nine-year-olds. (It was the set of The Pick-Up Artist.)

One girl asked for his autograph and he said, "Yes, but first can I have yours?"

Why should everyone be obligated to like RDJ?

He’s a pompous ass and I hate him.

Only on DL could we go from Dolly Parton to RDJ. 🤦‍♀️

Some of you seem to be confused about the distinction between the person and the product.

Every "famous" person is both: a real person, and then the product sold to the masses. So when you say she's "fake", all you're doing is forgetting that every famous person has a persona, a product, a role to play. She plays hers well, and she understands her audience better than most, and manages to be almost universally beloved. How many country stars can say that? Not many. How many rock stars can say that? Not many. She is unique, and highly skilled, and she does a TON of good work, both as a persona, AND as a person. Which is pretty rare.

I appreciate her.

I absolutely love Dolly. Unconditionally. But this is DL, so I gotta say it.

Dolly leaned down, picked up the brick, and then handed it to Marsha P Johnson so she could throw it at Stonewall. THAT’S how good a person she is!

The only time I don't like her is when she does that whispering talking sing songy thing she does in some of her music.

Take that back, you cunt at r69!

She’s fine, interesting life and talent. But the worship for her I encounter among friends seems performative.

R77 Ask yourself this. How much of EVERYTHING that your friends say and do is also "performative".

Dolly's life hasn't been all butterflies and rainbows. She struggled with depression and eating disorders and contemplated suicide.

She great and all that, but and its a Big Butt.....time for retirement. She is 77, time to TONE IT DOWN A NOTCH or two or three.

[quote]Minnie Pearls

Just the one, dear.

I met Dolly at a Democratic fund raiser years ago. Without the wig, fake boobs, makeup and 5 inch heels.

Would never have recognized her. She was a total delight. Nothing like her persona. Very smart and very charitable. Just a doll. She told us people never recognize her in public. And that's the way she wants it.

She's an awesome song writer. And singer. And gives millions away. I love her.

She's pretty much universally beloved OP and her reputation as a kind and agreeable person seems to be legitimate

R82, was she wearing a big blonde wig and makeup?

R78 can I appease you with other words? People I know demonstrate their love for Dolly in ways I find exaggerated and seemingly as a badge of their good taste, campiness and authenticity. It annoys me.

R85, that's on them, not on her.

[quote]I met Dolly at a Democratic fund raiser years ago. Without the wig, fake boobs, makeup and 5 inch heels.

The boobs come out?? That is truly a surprise!! I thought they were real (as in really attached to her body).

I also feel like people who whine about people being “performative” are just being performative.

Another thread demeaning a really great American entertainer who has done nothing but bring joy to people for decades. Very depressing.

Nah, r88. It's just a couple people who think they're edgy.

Fuck those people, r88. As Rupaul would say, if you can’t love Dolly Parton, how the hell ya gonna love yourself?

I don't believe she has anything to do with her "husband"

She has tattoos she keeps covered, the lady has a lot of secrets but I do appreciate her philanthropy.

OMG! I love all these stories! I knew about the wig, but fake boobs, unrecognizable without makeup, hidden tattoos! It’s no wonder drag queens love impersonating Dolly. She IS a drag queen!

Lord, for all we know, Dolly Parton isn’t even her real name!

She could actually be…Milton Moorehead of Syosset, Long Island. Hello!

R83...creating yet another link to Robert Downey Jr.

I think the slowed down version of Jolene at r23 is pretty fucking amazing.

If you’ve ever recorded a meeting for work and were trying to transcribe it by playing at a slower speed setting, it’s cringe inducing. You and everyone speaking sound drunk!

But Dolly singing Jolene slowed down to 33 rpm and every syllable is crystal clear and every note is on point. Her voice on the original recording is so beautiful, that slowed down there isn’t a single note off key or that sounds weird. How good must she be to have done that?

If anyone needed more reasons to love Dolly Parton, there was this during the pandemic.

You haters are a bunch of pathetic losers.

My family and I despise Dolly because she ruined Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge with her plastic theme parks, which bring the rowdiest nastiest trash to a once casual and lovely middle-class vacation spot in the South. I'm glad we had many trips to Gatlinburg before they turned it into a hybrid of Vegas (without the gambling) and Branson, MO with the amount of boozing, redneck trash that took it over.

Someone I know has family friend connections to many of the Partons. It's well known in close circles that many of her younger family members deal with drug addiction and crime. Aunt Dolly just rings up the local police and gets them off the hook instantly.

I'm sorry, I used to ADORE her, but I now know that she is underneath all that plastic surgery, a corrupt businesswoman who instills greed and white-knighting "that she wants to help her community." She covers it up by being charitable and even giving away children's books, but it's all a PR stunt for her to remain as loved and popular as she is.

Her puss tastes like peaches and cream.

No, OP, I know what you're getting at. Very elderly people can't escape having something spectral--rather ghastly--in their appearance, such as when it seems the facial bones, the jaw, the skull are showing through, and the wattles and strings in the neck. If they've had a lot of work done they can appear to have a very wide mouth and too many teeth. But hey, around here it's mostly about appearance anyway, and everyone loves her nonetheless. I was a Patsy Cline fan myself.

R82, No way would Dolly appear at "a Democratic fundraiser"--- A FUNDRAISER---as you describe. Without makeup? No woman goes to such an event without, you'll pardon the expression, dolling up.

Moreover, breast augmentation isn't something a woman "removes."

-5/10.

R82. Dolly wears falsies? Since when?

I always found her fresh and natural in film roles. I was always surprised to hear Hebert Ross would go after acting between breaks from tearing down Julia Roberts with his verbal abuse. He was such an asshole.

Of course, Dolly is a Drag Queen. But the irony is that she decided to enter a "Dolly Parton Look Alike Contest", and she only came in third.

^third??!! 🤣🤣🤣

R102, just to clarify, “I was always surprised to hear Hebert Ross would go after acting between breaks from tearing down Julia Roberts with his verbal abuse. He was such an asshole.”

He was going after Dolly’s acting? I think there’s a word missing in your statement, but I’m not here to “oh dear” you, just want to be clear. (I make mistakes and leave out words when I’m typing all the time, so I can’t judge. And I’m not a bitch. Mostly).

If that’s true, I don’t think he’s really dead. I think he’s here. Posting at r97.

^yes sorry he told her she couldn't act and was very awful to our Dolly.

By Sally Field's account he really was dreadful to Dolly Parton and especially cruel to a young Julia in her first major film role. And it's been widely reported.

I'm not a rabid fan but I do like her and what she stands for. And to be seventy-seven years old you have to admit that she looks pretty damn good. She's one of the few celebs at that age who've undergone loads of surgery who are still recognizable. And she's not just recognizable--she looks good. I've seen Madonna's Celebration Tour twice, and on stage Dolly moves much better than Madonna does now, and Madge is nowhere close to Dolly's age.

I'm not physically attracted to her due to the fact that I'm gay. I admire what she's done with her resources, especially the reading program.

Why haven’t the paparazzi been able to get a photograph of her out of her Dolly drag?

R110 She claims she has never--not even once--gone out without a full regalia of hair and makeup. She told Barbara Walters that she sleeps with a full face of makeup every night and keeps her wig and clothes next to her bed. That's in case there's a fire or some other type of emergency. If that's true, and I think it most likely is, there's a sadness to it. It smacks of an insecurity which doesn't seem to line up with Dolly's "fuck 'em if they don't like me" persona.

[quote] Why haven’t the paparazzi been able to get a photograph of her out of her Dolly drag?

We've also never seen Mariah Carey looking "fresh-faced" (no makeup, in Daily Mail lingo). Some people are very careful about what they look like when they leave the house.

She hasn't sung live in years. I don't really mind lip syncing once I know it's happening I consider it a show and not a concert so I'm not this DieHard person who thinks nobody should lip sync. But I saw Dolly at Radio City Music Hall years ago probably about 10 or 11. People were taking pictures and using binoculars and she stopped her show and said please stop taking pictures and looking through binoculars because you'll ruin the illusion. Those were her exact words I give her credit for her honesty and I really didn't mind

Dolly singing live, acapella, in 2015, Little Sparrow.

If you think that's live I've got a bridge in Pigeon Forge to sell you.

Any other huge fans of Straight Talk? I love that movie. To bad she turned down Big Business with Lily Tomlin.

R107 there is zero proof that Dolly was horrible to Julia Roberts while filming SM. That is such a crock of shit. Prove it.

R103, It's an old joke.

R110 = Bridget Fonda.

Moreover, r110, you seem not to know what "Show Business" means.

I'm Emily Dickinson's "Nobody," and even I wouldn't go get my morning newspaper without my mascara on!

[quote] Would never have recognized her. She was a total delight.

Are you sure it was really her?

R117, You've misread.

That Judy Ogle looks like she can eat a mean cooch!

I find it hard to believe that no one has ever gotten a photo of Dolly without the hair, makeup, clothes, etc. I love her, but I bet she’s shelled out some cash over the years to kill any photo of her like that.

IDGI, R124. WHY are you so surprised by this? Do you think you've seen every other entertainer au naturale?

Why would you suppose Dolly would venture ANYWHERE without a wig or makeup?

Anyway, why would you even want the illusion shattered?

I *don’t* want the illusion shattered. I’m just saying, in this day and age of photographers with long range lenses, or even, say, an asshole hospital worker sneaking a shot, I’m surprised no one has tried it. Look at all the celebrities who have had unflattering or privacy-invaded photos taken of them without their knowledge.

The celebs that get busted & pap'd without makeup are more rare than the ones who are careful about how they look when going out. Even dowdy Jennifer Garner is always somewhat "ready" for the paps.

Like Courtney Love, Dolly mimes her guitar onstage these days, but there was a time where she was a fantastic guitarist. As someone who’s played guitar for over half my life, I’ve always been impressed by her fingerpicking—and even more, her fretting with those nails!

Dolly has said that she can go out without her wig and makeup and no one recognizes her. So why haven’t any of the photogs tracked her during these occasions and gotten a photo?

Maybe Dolly goes out sans wig & makeup when she's in Tennessee, maybe. The paps hang out in LA and places like that.

R124, R123 evidently shows Dolly minus the doll part.

[quote]The paps hang out in LA and places like that.

Syosset, Long Island?

If you google “Dolly no wig” you can find a few photos like a school photo and one that was in her bio of her in a recording studio when she was young.

But even without the wig in the studio, she has gorgeous, long light brown hair done up in a huge 1960s style and she still looks like Dolly. It’s interesting that she chose the platinum blonde wig for her signature look. She was equally if not more beautiful without it!

Do please provide receipts for all your allegations, R97.

R21 (OP?) That is truly disgusting. You should be one of the choices on that other thread about Which is Worse. Answer - YOU.

I found the Cowboy cheerleader outfit creepy and ridiculous.

The only creepy one here are those whining and hating on her. She's worked hard and deserves to be herself so fuck right off if a successful woman, musician, song writer, business woman, philanthropist pisses you off. At least she's confident unlike your whiny bitchy selves. Who gives a fuck what she wears? Why do you care so much what she fucking wears? Is she hurting you? Does she even know you? Fuck no thank goodness! Think about your own ugly self before hating on Dolly Parton. You are the vile creep not her. People like you will hate on anyone who doesn't fit in your ugly box. Yuck

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.......................

r117 Reading is challenging, isn't it? No one said Dolly was mean to Julia. Try that again.

She's a talented artist, who is is versed in visuals and business. Shes smart, honest, and decent.

What's not to love?

Highly recommend this podcast. Probably has some of the best interviews with Dolly I’ve ever heard or read.

R137 you’re over invested!

I took good opera glasses to watch Carol Channing in her 70s do Hello Dolly. It was a magnificent horrifying experience. She sang-spoke it all live, of course. There were no illusions and I found it gripping.

r143 Stella actually seems cool also - ragging on Elon, Santos, DeSantis, etc.

She comes across as genuinely kind and sincere. And she’s a shrewd businesswoman. I have always liked her.

Who is supposed to be in the pic at r141? Blake Lively?

[quote]R95 Her voice on the original recording is so beautiful, that slowed down there isn’t a single note off key or that sounds weird. How good must she be to have done that?

I like this guy analyzing different singers. Here he talks about a 1988 live version.

Oh, C’mon.

One can appreciate Parton, as I do (basically telling Colonel Parker to fuck himself and not let him bully her into sharing rights to “I Will Always Love You” alone earns her legend status) but we don’t relinquish our eyes to her.

Parton made the conscious, volitional choice to appear on national TV in a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders get-up.

I made the conscious, volitional, aesthetic choice to find it distasteful.

Expression isn’t a one way street, it’s two or million ways street.

Does she support autogynephilia transgenders? Not surprising because that's how she looks like too.

Dolly's new album of covers, Rockstar, debuts at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 – Parton's highest charting album ever, and her third top 10 on that list.

Dolly Parton’s ‘Rockstar’ Debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales Chart With Her Biggest Sales Week in Modern Era

It's her first No. 1 on the 32-year-old chart.

Oh wow! She really did it! I was confused because they haven’t updated the actual chart and the current number one album has a similar name, “Rock-Star” by the Stray Kids, a Korean group.

But I read the Billboard news story that says her Rockstar will be #1 on the December 2nd chart.

(Kinda weird to have two back to back #1 albums called some variation of “Rock Star”, one by a Korean boy brand and the other by a Country singer!)

Love her. Wish she had not done the Dallas Cowboys outfit.

R117 you definitely misread. Parton and Shirley MacLaine were actually her two biggest protectors from Ross's nasty abusive ways.

I thought she looked fine in the Dallas cheerleader outfit. What is the big deal? I don't get it.

She was a really stunningly beautiful woman under all that makeup and huge blonde wigs. Such a natural beauty. Almost reminds me of Debbie Harry for some reason.

And I totally don’t mind the wigs, the make-up, the plastic surgery. Her nose is a bit on the thin side and she could have left that alone, but she’s so beautiful that (and this is corny) it shines out of her, so she could put her nose on her chest and her boobs on her forehead and I’d still look at her and probably think “she really is beautiful”.

I’m a fan. I can’t deny it, won’t apologize for. it,

And I don’t agree that she’s just Betty White’s replacement as the old lady we all adore. Folks were loving Dolly way before Betty White was America’s favorite old lady. Cher is only a few months younger and she has the same level of superfandom and we’re not saying she could be America’s favorite old lady.

Lily Tomlin is 84. Let her be America’s next favorite old lady. (She’d be a great replacement for Betty White in that role).

But I’ve seen enough articles over the years about Dolly where I took one look at the pic attached to the article and thought “That’s not really her. That’s just a very good drag queen and someone found that photo and they made a mistake”. I’d bet there are lots of photos that are misattributed as her but it’s really just a Dolly impersonator.

Here’s what I’m talking about. First column, third pic down. Can anyone say with 100% certainty that that’s really her and not a drag queen?

And I will always love her I will always love her And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

[R100] The fundraiser was at James Carvilles here in New Orleans. And it was a private party. She didn't need to "dress up". She could be herself. A party you would never be invited to. Yes she has big boobs that she enhances to make bigger. Just like her hair.

Fuck off 0/0.

My favorite Dolly wig. I love this song. I suspect it's more biographical than Coat of Many Colors. I've read that Dolly is a perfectionist and has always rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed, practiced, practiced, and practiced. Also talking private classes, when she first hit the scene, in classical music, and vocals. Privately enjoying training in opera just for fun. She was never any good at but she thought she needed to have musical knowledge in all forms of music. Again though, that doesn't mesh with her persona.

My favorite Dolly song. Her subtlety here is perfect and not often displayed. The Bridge.

More vintage Dolly.

Breaking news

Young pretty people who soon will be old fat wrinkled people with grey hair and bad knees, soon really fucking soon, can’t stand seeing ( their future) old people on stage. Then they get mad that they can’t find a way to stop looking.

So they post their complaints on DL.

Look don’t look but before you know it it’s you who will be some old crone still trying to look young, without any success, while hanging out in a bar to know avail and with no interest..

R158 a lot of this looks like old drag grandpas on gay dating apps.

So according to y'all she is gay icon but closeted? Shameful to fake a marriage in order to lie to the world according to this article.

Radaronline is one of the worst rags on the planet. Some asshole is writing a book about Doctors to the Stars. In it, he makes this claim:

[quote]Randolph claimed Michael Jackson's late dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein said Parton and Ogle visited him and "made no bones about being in love with each other."

So his source is a long-dead skin doctor based on his observations of them during a visit? Okay, then...

Just what we're they doing that scandalized the now-deceased doctor so?

I hate hacks like this.

R161 I love that clip but I actually think that is Dolly’s real hair and not a wig. If you look closely the hairline looks natural. I think this was just before she started wearing wigs full time.

I agree, r168. That's a fairly clever song for the times, too.

That's a beautiful if dark song, r162.

[quote] I've read that Dolly is a perfectionist and has always rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed, practiced, practiced, and practiced.

I've heard the opposite. When they collaborated w/Emmylou Harris, Dolly was irritated with Linda Ronstadt for taking so long on things. "Wake up, bitch. I got stuff to do."

[quote] Dolly's new album of covers, Rockstar, debuts at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 – Parton's highest charting album ever, and her third top 10 on that list.

This means virtually nothing in today's music world.

[quote]I've read that Dolly is a perfectionist and has always rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed, practiced, practiced, and practiced.

Not with her TRIO pals, she wasn’t. The third album was scrapped because Parton didn’t show up for recording sessions and when she WAS there she wanted to rush through songs without retakes.

She later settled out of court with Rondstadt. Rondstadt (who’d put up most of the money for the album) sued Parton for the losses accrued by her unprofessional behavior.

Is that true Linda sued Dolly? Any backup to that claim?

People who work with Dolly say she is a 1 take artist, nailing it on the first time. I could see how this would cause a rift between those who require multiple takes.

r161 That song was written by Curly Putman for Dolly. He also wrote D-I-V-O-R-C-E, Green Green Grass of Home, He Stopped Loving Her today, which were 3 MAJOR country hits for others and pretty much considered country gold.

Emmylou Harris wanted nothing to do with a third TRI album because Parton had been such a flakey (and expensive) time waster for everyone the first two times around. They’d have studios full of musicians and engineers booked and the other two singers standing by and Parton still wouldn’t consistently show up. Everyone would have to be paid anyway and the sessions rescheduled.

Rondstadt believed in the group’s music and got Parton to promise to be professional and honor recording dates, which brought Harris back onboard. But then Parton started pulling the same old shit again and the third album was scrapped.

^^ third TRIO album, not “TRI”

Wow, R176, what an indictment of Parton--she was often late.

I’ve always loved this photo.

And these are good, too.

Lastly …

Parton, Miss, but I have troubles of my own!

That's Nicotine Sheridan, Greg!

[quote]R178 Wow, what an indictment of Parton--she was often late.

Not late - she wouldn’t show up at all and everyone had to be sent home, yet still paid.

Do you know how expensive it is to book musicians, engineers and prime recording studios? I guess they can just send the bills to you since you think the costs are so insubstantial.

After she was fired from the 3rd album Parton tried to buy pity by telling the public, “They pitched a fit and dumped the greatest project ever. I was made to feel hurt, insulted, burdened with guilt . I would have lived up to my word but my word wasn’t good enough for them.”

The problem was Parton had already broken her word by failing to show up for multiple recording sessions, inconveniencing and disrespecting everyone. Why should they believe her now? Harris had never wanted to be on board in the first place due to Parton’s track record.

This article says Parton did later apologize for her fuck ups:

[italic]In her 1994 autobiography “Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business”, Parton did admit that she was the primary problem for “getting it all together.” She apologized to Harris and Ronstadt and said she hoped it would turn out OK, even she wasn’t sure if the project would ever come to fruition.

[quote] Do you know how expensive it is to book musicians, engineers and prime recording studios? I guess they can just send the bills to you since you think the costs are so insubstantial.

Oh, calm down, Mary R184. Yeah, it's an expense--for a major record label. Everyone got paid--by the label. Imagine--irresponsible singing stars costing the producers money (that the label certainly made back ten-fold, anyway, off the records).

Well, in this case no one got paid back until Parton was sued, because the album was scrapped.

The music business is like the art market: don't worry that the execs in control won't get their money.

No one made any money.

sorry, CONTINUED:

No one made any money.….except for the cancelled musicians and engineers. Linda and Emmylou scrubbed Dolly’s vocals from the songs she’d managed to finish and split up those to use on their own albums.

Linda said what she mainly resented throughout the mess was Dolly trying to blame her management, crying, “They’re making me go here, they’re making me go there… I can’t make it, after all.” According to Dolly it was everyone else on her team “making” her blow the recording dates. And Linda was like, “Um, they work for YOU. You have to take responsibility for that.”

It was Emmylou Harris who was the most pissed, while Linda kept trying to moderate. But it finally reached the point where she couldn’t defend Dolly any more.

There was a first trio album that got scrapped in 1977, but that wasn’t anyone’s fault. It just sounded too “cluttered.”

The recordings that were initially completed for that finally got split between them all, for individual albums.

1998 Ronstadt interview ———————

Q: Emmy sang on Feels Like Home, your 1995 album. That was originally to be the sequel to Trio, wasn't it? (Note: he means sequel to the trio sequel. ie, third album.)

A:Emmy wanted us to do a project that wasn't a trio project. She wanted to involve some of the writers and singers that we loved, like the McGarrigles. I had suggested Alison Krauss. We invited Dolly as a courtesy, to see if she wanted to sing on some tracks. And she was busy, but about six months later she sent word that she wanted to do it. I said great, maybe this should be a trio record. And Emmy, who's more practical than me, was remembering how difficult it had been to get our schedules together, and how difficult it had been to schedule time to promote the record, which we'd felt was really crucial. And we thought that if Dolly was on the record, and then pulled out and couldn't promote it, the two of us couldn't go out and promote it, if it was a trio record. So Emmy strongly wanted to keep it a record of ours. Plus, she remembered the taste discrepancy. I felt that what the trio had done was so stunning, I would love to repeat it, so I fought for that. I asked Dolly if she would sing on a couple of tracks, and Dolly said no, she wanted it to be a full-on trio or nothing. And then Emmy said, "I really would rather not do that. Don't let her talk you back into a trio record." And Dolly talked me back into a trio record, because she's very charming, and I loved that sound and thought it would be a wonderful thing if the three of us could go and promote it. Bob Krasnow, the head of [my record label] Elektra, wasn't a fan of Dolly's. He didn't want us to do another trio record, either. But I said, 'We'll ram this record down country radio's throat. We'll make it sell.' I asked for Dolly's personal word of honor, and she gave it. I showed up, Emmy showed up, and the night before we started, Dolly sent us a fax, saying there was something wrong with her infomercial and she had to go back for 10 days. I had booked all these triple-scale players from Tennessee, and it was going to be very expensive to put them up. Emmy stayed at my house, so that we could save money. When she did arrive, Emmy and I took her in another room, sat her down and said, "Look, we don't feel like you have the same commitment to this project that we do. We're asking you now to tell us whether you're going to really give us three weeks of time at the end of the record, for promotion and a short tour. We have to have the release date written in stone." And she gave her word. Her exact words at the time were, "I get so many irons in the fire, sometimes I burn my own ass." And we thought, how lovely. But we had her word of honor. Krasnow was still very reluctant and said, "She has a reputation for being unreliable.' I said she gave me her word, that's good enough for me. We got to the point where we had only Dolly's vocals left to record. We had a week left to do them. She canceled again. It cost us another $20,000. It was 20 grand every time we got one of these faxes.

(Continued) Emmy was gone off on the road, and she was grieving terribly because her father had just died. I'd been in there night and day working on it with [producer] George Massenburg, and I was exhausted from being up with my new baby. Dolly did her vocals, and we had two mixes left to do. Then she put out her live record right on top of our release schedule, at the beginning of August. She said it was going to sell so good and would help the trio record sell. Well, we somehow did not agree with her. And we couldn't get her on the phone. Another week went by. Meantime, we'd run out of money, and out of time. We started dumping her tracks as fast as we could. We had to somehow come up with a finished record. I started replacing her parts, Valerie Carter started replacing her parts. We couldn't get her on the phone. Finally, we had a three-way phone conversation. Emmy and I were in the same room. Dolly said, "How can you do this to me? My schedule is so overwhelming." I said, "Dolly, you've made a choice." She said it was like an act of God, like when you break your leg or something. I said it was an act of Dolly. Emmy said, "Dolly, we can't ever get this time back. You took this time away from us." Krasnow was very upset. It made me look like a fool, because I'd given him my word. I'd vouched for her, personally. I was hung out to dry, basically. It broke my heart. George Massenburg was so deeply hurt and discouraged, after how hard he'd worked. He did some of his best work on that record. He moved mountains.

Q: Guess that means you won't be making any more records with Dolly, eh?

A: I can't work with her. She didn't represent herself as being reliable. Emmy doesn't want to work with her, because she doesn't feel that she values what we did as much as we did. It was her choice. It was not our choice. That's how that record didn't come out. And Dolly then went in the Ladies Home Journal (click here for excerpt) and called us very unkind names. She was very unkind and uncharitable to both me and Emmy, and I think she owes us both an apology.

Q: Maybe you and Emmy will make an album together one day.

A: Do you know how hard it'll be for us to get our schedules together again? Emmy's now made this record with [producer Daniel] Lanois, that's set her on a path that she's very excited about, and that I'm very excited about. There's no way in hell I'm gonna interfere with that. On the other hand, it is only my pleasure to be able to sing in the same room with Emmy. I just love it. I don't even care if I'm singing, I just love to listen.

What was Dolly’s problem? I never new she had a rep for being flaky and unreliable. I thought she was some great business woman and a saint and a musical genius.

What did Dolly call them in Ladies Home Journal?

Thanks for sharing this. I never knew this happened. How unprofessional. How in the hell do you stand up Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris?

[quote]R178 Wow, [R176], what an indictment of Parton--she was often late.

I'm not R176, but I think that post was in reply to the earlier comment that Dolly "is a perfectionist and has always rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed, practiced, practiced, and practiced" and it's a valid and interesting rebuttal, along with the other information subsequently posted about that subject.

I think Dolly was used to getting her way, working with straight men. I do think she might be a lesbian, so there were no deep emotions involved (with straight men).

Put her together as a trio with two straight women (Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt) and I think Dolly just felt bored and not special, maybe.

Yes, she's a talented songwriter and singer, but I think she had help along the way from powerful, straight men.

I’m guessing 1.) Dolly has a big entourage and extended family of hillbillies to support, so when she has a chance to make serious money, she does it. Those new commitments took precedence over the Trio recordings. And she was so used to being a headliner on her own that it was inconceivable to her they’d dump her tracks. She called what they did “an abortion.” But Harris and Ronstadt are headliners, too… even if they don’t take in the same cash. And they had to move on.

The other thing is 2.) Parton is a different kind of singer. She’s gifted and a good songwriter, but it comes to her so easily it’s kind of like someone singing in the bathtub. Whereas the other two women have spent decades stretching themselves, researching music, improving their harmonies. They care about details, the artistry. I don’t think Dolly Parton loses any sleep over any of that. She’s not interested, and her audience doesn’t require that depth or texture. Which is fine - but not a good mix long term with others who are more committed.

Supposedly Dolly slept with Porter Wagoner to get her foot in the door.

Yes, I think she did sleep with Porter. She was absolutely beautiful when she was young.

I love this video of her & Willie Nelson (both a lot younger) singing together, so effortlessly.

R72, what, go from flamboyant, beautiful, ebullient, stylized-looking sexually-indeterminate personality to flamboyant, ebullient, beautiful, stylized-looking, sexually-indeterminate personality?

What a shock.

[quote]R202 Yes, I think she did sleep with Porter. She was absolutely beautiful when she was young.

I had a friend in the music business who said it was absolutely in Parton’s contract that she had to have sex with him whenever he wanted at work, upon request.

I just wonder how this was legally phrased. (“Accommodate”?) I don’t blame her for agreeing, I just think it’s sad.

Um…it wasn’t in Dolly.’s contract. Gullible, much?

Changing the lyrics of Dolly's song to "Why'd you come in here Fartin' like that.." when one of us cracks one has brought my husband and I immense joy over the years.

Feel the same way about Taylor Swift

My God how does she keep her hair up in a wig like this?

If we can’t all get behind Dolly Parton, then who can we get behind?

What’s so hard about wearing a wig?

R209 Jesus.

r204 It's fun to make up stuff, isn't it?

Look, that’s what an older guy in the music industry told me.

Women didn’t have much bargaining power back then. Especially in a town like Nashville (or Hollywood) where there’s ten million pretty girls willing to do [italic]anything.

R213, the point being made is that while sexual favors may have been exchanged, putting something illegal, like sex for pay, into a contract voids the contract and no one with a lawyer worth the name would ever have such a thing in a contact.

That’s why I was wondering what the language was. But it addressed the obligations.

this reminds me of when I worked in a law office and guys would call wanting contracts drawn up for their mail order brides. We would suggest they try a family law office as a way of brushing them off.

r23 why do you have nine identical accounts? what exactly is the point? Does it make the numbers of isers replies to certain threads (like this Dolly thread) appear to have more readership? Are you some sort of AI sock puppet or troll? Why identical accounts?

Their voices really blended beautifully. I’ve never listened to their albums, but will have to check them out. This documentary was interesting and has some great footage.

I love Dolly and try to just enjoy that. She is very talented and likeable and she seems like a really genuine, good person. She's Olivia Newton-John and Linda Carter level lovable.

what r219 said.

She's actually talented. I fear we don't and won't see much of that going forward.

OP, I have never cared about her in any way. To me, she's not good or bad, just "middlin".

r221 have you actually watched any of the vids on this thread. She's got that.

I love Dolly Parton. Love her. But the recent halftime performance where she appeared to be hanging onto the set because she was too wobbly had me concerned.

I miss these singers who had pretty, pleasing voices and didn’t have to blow the roof off of the place during every song.

R 20 nailed it. I used to find her kind of neutral . As years went on, the exploding hair , the cycles of boobs bigger, smaller, whatever , the plasticity over the top SHE IS FUCKING ANNOYING.

With her saccharine sien home I’m just a country gal … no different than anyone else

SHE IS DIFFERENT. She’s an alien cartoon who needs to go far away

R225 BOOM! You've got it. She's like 107 years old and looks like a toll booth. She needs to calm down and go home, count her millions, and do good things with the interest. She has more plastic than a Muppet.

[quote] Always the same people we’re conditioned to worship instead of living our own lives.

You mean people who are widely admired?

You’re right! They’re terrible people.

Kill them! Freedom!

Will they inject botox into her corpse when she is displayed like Celine Dion's late husband?