Fallon's Town Talk: Dolly Parton’s legacy extended beyond her musical renown

A rapper with the wonderful name of Jelly Roll came up with the most pithy and telling comment following the death of Dolly Parton. Delivering a monologue on US television on the night of her death, Jelly Roll described Dolly Parton as “the last American that everyone liked”.

In a notoriously divided country, Dolly had popularity ratings that were the envy of any politician. She steered clear of politics yet was made to make political gestures with a sincerity and moral authority that didn’t alienate her fan base. In a way, she was the American equivalent of the late Queen Elizabeth in Britain, a unifying figure who was admired by all sections of society.

That was why President Donald Trump was quick to announce that all US flags would fly at half mast for seven days as a tribute to the cultural icon. For context, the only non-US politicians to receive similar accolades since 1965 were Winston Churchill and St. John Paul 11.

Dolly was also beloved far beyond the US, as evidenced by the outpouring of nostalgia and sadness at her passing in Ireland – her famous appearance in Páidí Ó Sé’s pub in Ventry in 1990 went viral on social media, with even Martina Navratilova reposting it on X.

The video is memorable for so many reasons, not least as a document of the fashion of the era, but also for the look of disbelief on the faces of the customers that such a renowned personality had turned up in their local hostelry.

Páidí’s own face is a mix of rapture and elation, and he was so grateful to Dolly for singing in his pub that he presented her with his jersey from the 1985 All-Ireland final when he captained Kerry to the Sam Maguire Cup.

Dolly was a brilliant businesswoman who was revered for her philanthropy and kindness as well as her music. JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books who divides opinion in a way Dolly Parton never did, wrote a memorable tribute. She described the Imagination Library as the best contribution to child literacy ever made by a celebrity.

Dolly founded the Imagination Library to cultivate a love of reading among children and has distributed hundreds of millions of free books around the world, including in Ireland.

In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, Parton donated $1 million to coronavirus research at Vanderbilt University, helping to fund research that contributed to the development of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine.

She held her own in the cut-throat music business because she was the smartest person in the room…that is, any room she entered. Those gullible enough to be fooled by the ‘dumb blonde’ act were left floundering while Dolly laughed all the way to the bank. The Dollywood theme park in her native Tennessee became a magnet for tourists, including from Roscommon as has been evident on social media since her death.

The best-known example of her toughness came in 1974 when Elvis Presley’s manager told her that Elvis wanted to record ‘I Will Always Love You’ which she wrote that year. The catch was the manager demanded half of the songwriting rights. Dolly refused, in what must be one of the few examples of a fledgling songwriter turning down Elvis. In the early 1990s Whitney Houston’s cover of the song went stratospheric and made Dolly a fortune.

Like another country music legend, Johnny Cash, she crossed over into the wider musical world. Unlike Johnny, Dolly didn’t play a villain in ‘Columbo, but she did star in the film ‘9 to 5’ and wrote the film’s title song which became an anthem. She was an accomplished actor, but it is the music that will endure. Dolly Parton became a mainstream star with the hit ‘Here You Come Again’ in 1977 and remained a cultural powerhouse for the rest of her life.

Since her death I came across two cover versions she recorded which I hadn’t heard before. One was of Led Zepplin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven. She wasn’t daunted by taking on a song that has an almost mythical status and sang a great version; so too with Cat Stevens’ ‘Peace Train’ which she recorded with Ladysmith Black Mambazo in the 1980s.

If anyone doubts Dolly’s star power, they should go to YouTube and look at her appearance at Glastonbury in 2014 where she held 180,000 fans spellbound. At first glance, Glastonbury didn’t seem to be her natural audience, but Dolly’s gift was that every type of music fan was her audience. May she rest in peace.