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‘She was as genuine as they come’
I had the opportunity to meet her when I volunteered to work the Country Music Awards in the late 70s. Me and three other kids had Dolly all to ourselves for about 20 minutes. I remember with disbelief how she took several unhurried minutes with each of us and gave us her undivided attention for that time. She had no reason to do this. She was just as genuine as they come. Her philanthropy was exceptional. Her talent speaks for itself. I miss her already. Larry Lipman, Tennessee
‘We were not ready to let her go’
I always said Dolly should have been queen of the world. She was a natural unifier, humanist and all-round good egg. She never alienated anyone and, given the chance, could have solved any political problem. She was unique. Her magnificence is reflected in the outpouring of shock and grief at her passing. The world still needed Dolly and we were not ready to let her go yet. You will be sorely missed, Dolly. Ruth, London
‘I have yet to hear a person make a more beautiful tone’
I’m not usually terribly affected when famous people pass away. But this one took the wind out of my sails. I’m a puppeteer and actor and I worked with her for a week in 1987 on her variety TV series. It was the Christmas episode, and they had hired a group of character puppets to fill out the sketches and musical numbers.
Normally, when you get to a song in a table read, you just skip over it. But Dolly was in a mood to start singing the song herself, a cappella. When Dolly began to sing, all the other people disappeared. There was just Dolly, me and The Voice in that room. She made a sound that I could see. It was as if the ceiling had vaporised and the room filled with a golden light. I was mesmerised. She sang only the beginning of the song, and though this was almost 40 years ago, I have yet to hear a person make a more beautiful tone. Allan Trautman, California
‘I thought about her Coat of Many Colors when I had to wear hand-me-downs to school as a kid’
Growing up as another hillbilly, I used to think about Dolly and Loretta Lynn when a few folks made fun of me for my incorrect pronunciations. I thought about her Coat of Many Colors when I had to wear hand-me-downs to school as a kid. But I pursued my dreams, stiffening my spine, as she did. I remember the very first time she appeared with Porter Wagoner and I have loved her music ever since. Her Smoky Mountain Christmas CD was only sold at Cracker Barrel but it is one of my favourites. She had such talent, such grace and goodness. She was so comfortable and authentic in her own skin. There will not be another like her. Anonymous, South Carolina
‘More of us could stand to model Dolly’s bravery and kindness’
Dolly Parton stood up for women, Black people and LGBTQIA people, and she did so in a region and industry where it was not trendy. On the one hand, I identify as Black and gay, and I appreciate being stood up for. But I think the more important element is the way she modelled speaking up for all her values, including those, in a culturally conservative part of America where doing so requires vastly more grit and risk than it does in regions like the east or west coast. She stood up anyway in the face of a potentially overwhelming backlash to those causes on her own turf.
She also supported HIV/Aids treatment access, the development of the Moderna Covid vaccine, and she gave numerous children a chance to develop literacy skills by donating books.
In the southern USA, where I am from, Dolly Parton will go into the pantheon of heroes. In this modern day world where cruelty and injustice are far too common, more of us could stand to model Dolly’s bravery and kindness, and I hope to see us do that. Antonio, Hanoi (originally from Kentucky)
I met Dolly in November 1978 when she came to perform in Paris at the Théâtre Mogador. I had just started to work for RCA records as a junior publicist. On the day before the concert, my boss called me at 7am saying she was sick and I had to replace her. I had to pick Dolly up at the George V hotel, with a chauffeur and limousine and take her everywhere she wanted to go.
So there was young me, heart beating fast, meeting my first American artist, setting foot in a palace hotel and sitting in a limousine for the first time in my life. Her first request was to go to Christian Dior, which was another first for me. Due to the snobbish attitude of the shop assistants, who did not even bother to speak to her, we quickly retreated. Their mistake, she could have bought the building.
When we returned to the George V she presented me with a box containing a pair of boots. I later realised she had carefully planned this as her assistant had asked about my shoe size and what style I liked when we were at the Galeries Lafayette. I was absolutely gobsmacked. Over the years when I would hear about all her good deeds, I was never surprised, having experienced her generosity first-hand. Fabienne Drinkwater, Australia (originally from France)
‘As a singer, I appreciated her incredible range and expressive quality’
In the mid-early 1970’s when I was still in high school in Ohio, my brothers and I went to see Merle Haggard at the Akron Civic theatre and were blown away by the warm up act, which was Dolly Parton. We went home and worked out a few of her songs in our basement “studio” and years later one of my brothers formed a Dolly Parton tribute band in San Francisco called Parton Me. When Merle died in 2016 my brother said it felt like a member of our family had passed away. I have that same sense today hearing of Dolly’s passing. As a singer, I appreciated her incredible range, expressive quality, choice of songs in a set, her songwriting, and her interpretation of covers. Kathy Adams, Utah
‘Thanks to her, my son receives one book per month’
I didn’t know much about Dolly Parton apart from Jolene. But thanks to her Imagination Library, my 18-month-old son receives one book per month. I think it’s an amazing project and I hope it will survive her. Antoine, London
‘She made me feel better about myself’
As a trans girl growing up in rural Australia in the 1970s and 1980s, Dolly was one of the few celebrities who really made me feel better about being trans. Well before it was the thing to do, she made positive and supportive comments about trans women and LGBT people more generally. Her approach to life was also something that helped me through. In the early 1980s, a friend had one VHS tape and it was 9 to 5. We must have played it a thousand times until we didn’t need the sound any more to act out the movie from end to end.
I was also a very freckled redhead, and I was bullied a lot for it. The lines from Jolene: “Your beauty is beyond compare / With flaming locks of auburn hair” also made me feel better about myself. It would have been great if she’d got her wish and died on stage at 120, but the 80 years she did give us were beyond compare. Maya, Australia
‘A monumental loss for us all’
How is it possible to cry for the loss of someone I’ve never met? Dolly’s kindness and sheer decency just shone from her. A monumental loss for us all but what a legacy she leaves behind. Jackie McDee, Scotland
