Today we lost an iconic legend who touched so many of us with her words, her actions and her total dedication to humankind. I have to be honest. I am totally gutted. It feels like someone punched me in the stomach, and I'm still trying to catch my wind. The last time I felt this way was when Loretta Lynn passed.

 

What I especially loved about Dolly was her wise-cracking sense of humor, her shrewd business acumen, her philanthropy and, of course, that voice. So I loved everything about her, I guess.

 

Understand that there will never be another Dolly.

 

She was a true original who defied genres, categories and labels. I think that's one of the many reasons she was so inspiring. She was never too big to say she was wrong, and she never lost her faith, which can be hard when you've seen so much hardship and pain and start wondering why.

 

We've all heard the great Dolly stories, but there's one in particular that I always recalled fondly.

 

Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, wanted to record a song Dolly had written for Porter Wagoner after she left his show to pursue a solo career. The problem was that Elvis wanted at least half of the publishing. Dolly couldn't do that because the song royalties were part of what she was leaving her family. She said no to the King, cried all night, but stood by her principles.

 

It paid off.

 

In 1992, Whitney Houston recorded that song for her acting debut in The Bodyguard. “I Will Always Love You” became the biggest hit of Whitney's career, spending 14 weeks at number one and eventually achieving diamond status.

 

Dolly could have made a fortune giving Elvis what he wanted. She didn't. She chose her family.

 

Now, back to Merle.

 

One of Dolly's first tours was as an opening act for Merle Haggard, who had tremendous respect for her as a singer and songwriter. They toured together in the mid-1970s, and somewhere along the way The Hag became pretty smitten with Dolly.

 

In his memoir, he wrote about seeing the “real” Dolly — the woman behind the larger-than-life personality — and feeling that she had been hurt and betrayed more than once. Touring together creates a bond between people, and Merle apparently saw something in Dolly that went beyond the rhinestones and the big voice.

 

He fell for her.

 

Dolly, of course, was already married to Carl Dean, the man she loved for nearly 60 years.

 

Merle wrote “Always Wanting You” about Dolly, hoping that maybe the song would somehow kindle a romance. And in true Merle Haggard fashion, he didn't exactly play it safe.

 

He called Dolly in the middle of the night — around 3 a.m. — and sang the song to her over the phone.

 

It didn't work.

 

Dolly remained faithful to Carl, and Merle's unrequited love stayed unrequited.

 

But he didn't exactly walk away empty-handed. “Always Wanting You” became Merle's sixth consecutive number-one country hit.

 

Yes, The Hag was smitten.

 

But Dolly was Dolly.

 

And then there's the part of her life that I think says even more about who she was.

 

Dolly didn't just talk about caring for people. She spent her life finding ways to actually do it.

 

After the terrible Tennessee wildfires in 2016, she established the My People Fund and gave families who had lost their homes $1,000 a month for six months. Ultimately, the fund distributed millions of dollars directly to people who had lost virtually everything. She called them “my people.” 

 

She always seemed to remember the person.

 

The child.

 

The family.

 

The guy sitting alone in a hospital room. When Dolly's niece Hannah was treated for leukemia as a child at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, Dolly later wrote a song about her called “Chemo Hero.” In 2017, Dolly visited the hospital, performed for the children and families, and announced a $1 million donation to its pediatric cancer program. She didn't just write a check from somewhere far away.

 

She showed up.

 

And then there was a little girl named Hattie who had survived cancer and a serious inflammatory illness. Her wish through Make-A-Wish was to meet Dolly. So Dolly met her at Dollywood.

They talked. Dolly complimented her. They laughed. They talked about the things Hattie had been through. And, because this was Dolly, they also talked about Hattie's other great wish was a pig.

​

That's the kind of story I love about Dolly. The little moments.

 

A dying Dolly fan named LeGrand Gold had put meeting her on his bucket list while battling stage-four colorectal cancer. In 2023, Dolly personally called him and sang “I Will Always Love You” to him over the phone. He died a couple of months later.

 

Think about that for a second.

 

Dolly Parton had sold more than 100 million records. She had built businesses, written thousands of songs, starred in movies and become one of the most recognizable people on earth. And she picked up the phone and sang to a dying fan. That's kindness. It really doesn’t cost anything to be kind. Dolly knew that.

 

Then there's the Imagination Library, which may ultimately be one of her greatest gifts.

Dolly started it in 1995 because her father, Robert Lee Parton, couldn't read or write. She wanted children to have the opportunity he never had. The program sends free books to young children regardless of their family's income and has now delivered more than 300 million books around the world. 

 

And before the Imagination Library became a worldwide phenomenon, she was already trying to help kids in her own backyard. Her Dollywood Foundation created a program in which she promised seventh- and eighth-graders in her home county $500 if they stayed in school and graduated. The dropout rate among those students reportedly fell dramatically. 

 

Then came COVID.

 

In 2020, Dolly donated $1 million to Vanderbilt's COVID-19 research. That money helped support early research connected to the Moderna vaccine. She didn't know exactly where it would lead. She just knew people were hurting and somebody needed to help.

 

That's been the story over and over again. Dolly saw something that needed fixing and did something about it. Do you get it? That's why so many people who never met her feel like they've lost somebody they knew. She had this extraordinary ability to make enormous things feel personal.

 

A book.

 

A phone call.

 

A child's wish.

 

A family who lost everything.

 

A kid with cancer.

 

A vaccine that saved millions of lives.

 

She cared about all of it.

 

And she never seemed embarrassed about caring. Think about it.  Dolly could have easily become cynical. She came from poverty. She knew hardship. She knew rejection. She knew what it was like to be underestimated. She knew what it was like to be told what she couldn't do. Instead, she became generous. We all have to make that decision in our lives. Are we going to be bitter or better? I think I know what Dolly chose..

 

​

​

​