If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.
-Dolly Parton
Yes, this is completely random. Except not really. Admittedly, country isn't one of my favorite genres of music, but I am a huge Dolly Parton fan. Her music is amazing, of course, but I'm more about the songstress herself. This entry belongs in this blog because seeing her special on the Biography channel inspired me to be a better person.
What's so wonderful about Dolly? Well everything really, but I'll share a few highlights:
- Dolly is one of the few recording artists savvy enough to keep all her own publishing rights. At one point in his career Elvis wanted to cover her song, I Will Always Love You. She was thrilled and honored, but unfortunately, Elvis' manager demanded half of the publishing rights. Dolly informed him that was not possible and the deal fell through. Although it broke her heart, she was unwilling to compromise her rights as a songwriter. Talk about balls! The woman said no to Elvis. However, unless you live in a cave, you know how the story ends. Years later that same song was covered by Whitney Houston for her movie The Bodyguard and became a pop cultural phenomenon. Had Dolly given half the publishing rights to Elvis she would have lost out on millions of dollars.
- Before she became a megastar, she was a sidekick on a popular variety show. When she decided to pursue her Hollywood dreams many told her she would never make it and was crazy to leave such a successful gig. In fact, the star of the show himself told her that and let it be known his feelings were hurt. However, she felt strongly she must follow her own heart. When speaking about this career crossroads she said, "I like to think I haven't stepped on anyone to get where I am. I've stepped over a few people and I've stepped around a few people." Later on, when the star of the show had financial difficulties and Dolly was enjoying huge career success, she bought the publishing rights to his songs from him. When he was back on his feet she gave those rights back to him free of charge.
- Her public image is larger than life, but her private life is private. She has been married to the same man for 44 years and it's her only marriage. He is content to stay out of the public eye and she is content to let him. She often jokes they spend most of their time together, it's just that no one ever sees him. No one knows much about their family life either except they have no biological children, but helped raise some of her younger siblings and became guardians of a family friend's son when he lost both his parents.
- I used to think Dollywood was just a glitzy, campy, cheesy theme-park, but it is actually a sort of museum. It features authentic regional cooking, home-grown bluegrass musicians, and preserves historical information about the Ozarks while also employing hundreds of locals with otherwise limited career opportunities . When she opened Dollywood, she created a viable revenue stream for an impoverished area. This was intentional.
- She has never forgotten her humble upbringing or turned her back on where she came from. She gives back in many ways including starting a charity that delivers free books to young children in low-income areas with high rates of illiteracy.
My favorite Dollyisms:
- "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap."
- Quizzed by the media about her weight loss secret she said, "It ain't no secret, I just eat less."
- "The way I see it is, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."
- "I'm 5 foot nothing and a hundred and plenty."
- "I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb... and I also know that I'm not blonde."
- When asked on the set of Steel Magnolias why she didn't seem as bothered as her co-stars by the hot weather she replied, "All my life I wanted to be rich and famous. Now I am. I've got nothing to complain about."
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