25/08/2026
Just over twelve years ago I started to dive into Dolly Partons great and vast catalogue of stories that she called stories in song.
Like every other human on earth I knew of her name, her legend and legacy and her greatest hits, 9 to 5, Jolene, Islands in the Stream etc etc etc,
What I didn’t expect to find was a whole new world of incredible music written by one of the strongest women that ever graced this earth, and for that matter one of the greatest singer songwriters to ever grace this planet, the likes of Bob Dylan get far too much credit for.
From the incredible spoken words she gave penned by her then musical partner Porter Wagner ‘The Bird That Never Flew’, to the rip roaring country ride that was the Mule Skinner Blues, her songs about su***de like ‘The Bridge’, to her songs about hope and faith which are some of my personal favourites including her cover of Don Francisco’s ‘He’s Alive’, her underrated 80s banger ‘The River Unbroken’ which has become one of my fav songs ever. It’s simply impossible to list my favourites of hers, there’s just too many, her cover of In The Ghetto, Poor Folks Town, Joshua, Here I Am, The Letter, Alabama Sundown etc etc etc
There is just too much to write, too much to say, I can’t even put into words how devastated I am, she was in my small group of eternal musicians that I’ll love more than anyone else. You can always be in the mood for a Dolly song, a Dolly movie, a Dolly interview.
Steel Magnolias is one of my favourite movies ever, I’m having her song “Light Of a Clear Blue Morning” played at my funeral, I created a whole window display for my shop dedicated to her for no reason other than because I wanted to!
She has been part of the soundtrack to my life ever since my late teens and seeing all these wonderful and beautiful dedications on social media is a raw sting but a wonderful reminder of the legacy she left in not only music, but on film, philanthropy, business and culture itself. It’s you g to take a while for this to truly sink in.
How does one even end a post like this? Maybe we can all take comfort in her passing knowing she is back up there with Carl, and that her faith and incredible sense of humour meant that for true fans like myself, we knew she wasn’t scared of death.
It’s simply the beginning of her next chapter, she is now truly eternal and can live with all of us everyday, no longer limited by flesh and bone, but spirit ✨
I love you Dolly, I always will 💕