Obituary: Dolly Parton

 Today Dolly Parton's family announced she had passed away after having had some recent health issues.  Of course, she was a giant in the music field, one of the biggest stars  who ever came out of country music with the added bonus of  being a popular crossover artist.  She was 80 years old, the same age as her mentor and original duet partner Porter Wagoner was when he died in 2007.  She had also acted in films and was prominent in philanthropic work.

I don't think there is anybody who ever had a bad word to say about Parton.  What set her apart from many performers is she had real charisma, with her kindness, good humor, and so many other positive character traits showing.  She was somebody who seemed to be unaffected by all the fame and money and seemed to be approachable.   Of course, she had the talent with her distinctive style and her songwriting.

I don't have much to add.  Who could add anything more about somebody who was such a fixture in popular music for some sixty years?

Dolly had been married to contractor Carl Dean for almost sixty years.  He died last year at the age of 82.  They married in 1966, right as she was beginning her career and right before she partnered with Porter Wagoner and hit the big time.  He always stayed out of the limelight and lived a more or less normal life.  

Unlike many people who think her best work was after she left Wagoner in 1974, I regard their music as nothing short of magical.  They made a perfect duet.  Dolly Parton seemed born to do duets, and she was never better than she was with Wagoner.  I could listen to their work all day.  They were that good.

However, good things have to come to an end, and Dolly decided in 1974 to strike out on her own.  Her famous song, "I Will Always Love You," later covered by Whitney Houston, whose massive hit version got played to death over the radio, movies, videos, CDs, whatever, was written as a farewell to Porter Wagoner.  Dolly knew as well as anybody that he was the person most responsible for her having the massive success she had. Wagoner was rather hurt over her leaving, but whatever animosity there was between the two, they long buried the hatchet at the time of Wagoner's death.  Dolly was with him when he died in 2007.

She died after a brief bout of cancer.  Snip:

Born Jan. 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River near the town of Sevierville, Parton was the fourth of 12 children.

Her father, Robert Lee Parton, could not read or write and often supplemented the family's meager income from their farm by working construction jobs.

Her mother, Avie Lee Parton, ran the household and was fond of singing traditional Appalachian ballads. The future superstar said it was her mother who instilled in her a love for music.

Vintage Dolly and Porter:

Later on with "Jolene":