Dolly Parton on tight, sparkly clothes and the secret to long-term love
There is no living musical icon more universally beloved than Dolly Parton — ask the LGBTQ community, the Bible Belters and her legions of fans, some of whom have urged her to run for president. It's impressive and rare to see a 70-year-old woman still making chart-topping records (her new album, Pure & Simple, just hit number one in Canada, the U.S. and Australia), starring in movies (her made-for-TV holiday flick Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love airs on NBC on Nov. 30) and running a multi-million-dollar tourism empire (she just announced a new $2.5 million Dollywood holiday parade). Parton is also touring her new record across North America and next week, she begins the Canadian leg of her tour in Toronto — followed by Sault Ste. Marie, Winnipeg, Moose Jaw, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Chatelaine's resident Dolly superfan Sarah Boesveld talked with the singer by phone from Dollywood.
[Interviewer]
HELLLOOO SAAARAH!!!
Oh my gosh! Dolly Parton!
HOW ARE YOOOUU?!!
I’m freaking out because I’m talking to you.
Oh, you calm down. I ain’t all that.
Sure you are — I keep your book Dream More on my bedside table. I drink coffee every morning from my Dollywood mug. This is a big deal.
Oh, good! Aw, well thank you.
Ok, let's get down to business: Your new record has hit number one on the country charts. I was surprised to hear it's pretty sexy in places!
Well, actually, there’s several songs on it that are pretty sexy and romantic. I tried to write a "love of many colours" album. I wanted to touch on every part: the lasting love, the cheating love, the romantic love, the exciting love. I think people always relate to love. Everything seemed to come together for that particular album — it’s not overdone in any way. That’s why we’re calling the tour Pure & Simple because we’ve actually scaled back on the band as well. Each song’s been treated with respect according to its own little identity. I felt like it turned out good.
Speaking of love, you and your husband Carl Dean just celebrated 50 years together. You've always quipped that it's lasted because you've “stayed gone.” But why else?
There is some truth in the fact that we’re not in each other’s face all the time. But we also have a mutual respect and an admiration, and we’re completely different in personality, so that’s intriguing. We both have a great sense of humour. We have a good time together, we don’t get into those really dark places a lot of people do. We don’t argue or fight, never got into all that. We're both early risers, we both like the temperature the same — we don’t fight over the thermostat like some people do. It’s little things like that that cause you to have aggravations.
Another anniversary came last year — 35 years since the release of your film debut, 9 to 5. What do you think has changed for working women since then?
Well, we’ve come a long way since 9 to 5. We addressed all those issues then [around] equal pay for equal work, and all that. But we’ve still got a long way to go. I think that women should always be treated with respect — if you do a good job, you should be recognized, appreciated and paid for it. I really am proud that I was part of that whole 9 to 5 movement. The men in my audiences know all the words to that song too. It’s not just a women’s anthem; it’s a working anthem.
In your upcoming Christmas movie, I hear you play a character based on a so-called "painted lady" you knew growing up in your hometown in the Smoky Mountains. She's the woman you modelled your look after. What was it about her that drew you in?
Colour, colour, colour. She was radiant. She had a big pile of yellow hair, peroxide hair. She had bright red lipstick and her eyes all painted with eye shadow, which I thought was beautiful. Red fingernails, high-heel shoes, tight, sparkly clothes. I thought, "That’s the way I want to look when I get big." Sure enough, that’s how I grew up. People say I look like a whore, but maybe that’s what they said about her. She probably patterned herself after a movie star and I patterned myself after her.
I love that "Backwoods Barbie" message you kind of embody, challenging people to look beyond appearances.
Absolutely. That’s what I say when I introduce the movie — [she] painted angel that had a big influence on myself, and that angels and miracles come in different shapes and forms. You never know.
When you land in Toronto next week to start the Canadian leg of your tour, you'll meet with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne about expanding your Imagination Library child-literacy program — which delivers free books to kids every month, from birth to kindergarten — in Canada. I've seen you say the program is your proudest accomplishment.
It is! That was born from an honest and real place, being very country and [seeing] poor people who didn’t go to school because they had to work. My father couldn’t read or write, but he was a brilliant man and I just wondered what all he could have done if he’d got an education. He helped me set up [the] and he took a lot of pride in that when he was living.
So I'm seeing you in Toronto, but I also caught you on at an earlier show in Lewiston, NY. It was a really windy night and you kept saying you were afraid your wig would fly off. Has that ever happened?
[Laughs] No! But I’ve always worried! It’s like, "Oh, there goes my hair! My hair blowing in the wind and me too proud to run after it!"
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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