26. August 2026
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We Will Always Love You – R.I.P. Dolly Parton

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Shocked, deeply saddened – or the struggle to believe how the world of country music will keep on turning. 25th August 2026 changed a whole genre, it changed the world of music. Dolly Parton died at the age of 80 years in Nashville, Tennessee. Describing her legacy in the limited amount of words will always be insufficient. Not praising her would be ignorant. Other sources will give a better bio, more personal stories, and won’t forget a key song of her vast discography. I will nonetheless try to describe my thoughts and feelings towards her in this rather ad-hoc post – and share ten songs which describe my connection with her the best.

 

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Dolly Parton (@dollyparton)

 

Dolly Parton – More Than A Legend

I have to start with: I am not one of the gifted ones. I have never met Dolly. I have never visited a concert of hers. I wouldn’t even say that I am very deep into her music. Even though I do feel ashamed about this today, the day she passed away, it does not feel to matter that much on the other hand. I highly respected her. I looked up to her. She was an idol to me. And she is – to me – the greatest female country music artist of all times.

Dolly managed to connect to the people. Her songbook, starting with the 1959 Puppy Love and somehow closing with her last solo single, the 2025 Bella, had songs for everyone. She was strong, she was an icon on stage, she had a special voice. You heard a Dolly song and you knew she was her. And she was innovative. From country music and bluegrass to dance pop and metal – there are Dolly Parton songs in so many genres.

 

She is an icon – but not only because of her music

Dolly Parton won eleven Grammy Awards – including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. But reducing her to her musical career or to the acting would be far too limited. Even though I never met her, there are multiple people in the business I know who did. Nobody ever gave me a bad word about Dolly Parton. And if you look at social media, artists and fans are shocked. They share very individual memories. Dolly felt to connect with everyone. Her open-minded, very tolerant mind inspired the world. From a European perspective, it is hard to estimate how much Dolly Parton meant to the United States. A small indicator for that is that Donald Trump – who likely did not share all of her thoughts and ideals – ordered to lower the U.S: flag for a week soon after her death was announced.

Her social and charity work will be unforgotten. The Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is giving free books to young children in five countries, including the United Kingdom and Ireland. The charity is distributing over 3 million books – per month(!) worldwide. She supported many key social topics like emancipation or sexual tolerance. She donated for hurricane victims and supported pediatric healthcare. There are estimates that her foundation supported society with more than half a billion dollars. What Would Dolly Do? became a popular phrase for doing the right thing. Kristin Chenoweth wrote a song about it in 2011 – and there are countless versions of it nowadays.

 

Thank you Dolly!

I’m just German. I did not grow up with country music. Thus, I might just have caught a minor piece of her career, her work, her spirit. Nonetheless, Dolly has been a special artist to me. It is hard to believe to me that another country artist will ever have a similar legacy if you look on stage and off stage. It’s not just the world of (country) music who lost one of its brightest stars ever on 25th August 2026. We all did. And if would ask ourselves What Would Dolly Do? more often, the world might be a better place one day.

Thank you, Dolly Parton. Rest in Peace.

Dolly Parton’s legacy is not celebrity, but humanity. She came from poverty to become the most important native of Tennessee. She shared her fortunes for the good of all of us, and shared her soul in every note she sang. – Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame

 

My Ten Song Selection of Dolly Parton

I don’t want to give a post like The 50 Best Dolly Parton Songs, as the Rolling Stone Magazine honors the outstand country music lady. Especially as her musical legacy might be not that clearly known in my home country Germany, I felt to share a ten song selection, which describe favorite songs of mine, but also some, which are very special to me. Hope you like my personal selection.

 

I Will Always Love You 

Especially here in Europe, people think about Whitney Houston’s 1992 recording of I Will Always Love You for The Bodyguard movie. Thus, these people miss that it is in fact a Dolly Parton song, released in 1974 for the first time (and other versions thereafter). Thus, I put it on the top of my list. It is an amazing ballad, which might also be one of her most influential one.

 

Jolene 

Jolene is likely the song most people think about when they think about Dolly Parton solo recordings. Fun fact: the song is not only on the same album as I Will Always Love You (Jolene, 1974). There is even a legend that these two global hits were written on the same night. Dolly later stated that she is not sure about that any more. Nonetheless, these two songs are absolute classics.

 

If You Hadn’t Been There 

If You Hadn’t Been There is the Dolly Parton song which touched me the most in recent years. She released it in March 2025, just a week after her husband Carl Dean died at the age of 82. What a lovely way to honor your long-term companion. Today, we ask ourselves what country music would be alike if Dolly wouldn’t have been there.

 

9 to 5 

A triple platinum record in the United States, a quadruple one in the United Kingdom – 9 to 5 was a huge hit worldwide in 1980. The song is also the title track of the Dolly Parton musical nowadays. The song is against the gender pay gap – what a modern topic for the song, which even received an Oscar nomination.

 

Islands In the Stream (with Kenny Rogers)

The 1983 duet with Kenny Rogers is, without a doubt, the absolute classic in the Dolly Parton book of collaboration songs. I am sure it will receive a lot of airplay the next days and weeks. And maybe, it even leads to a “correction” of music history, which somehow hurts me. While this song topped the Austrian charts (like in several other countries), one of the few key music markets the song did not strike was… Germany. Sorry for that, Dolly!

 

Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?

I selected the 1976 song as it has been one of Dolly’s favorites. She used this song on stage to have a “vocal battle” with her band – who had to somehow connect with her high voice. A catching track, which is a a lot of fun combined with some gospel touch.

 

Here You Come Again 

A rather pop-ish track in Dolly’s discography is Here You Come Again. The 1977 song has a lovely flow and a beautiful melody. It topped the country charts in the United States and Canada.

 

My Tennessee Mountain Home 

Dolly Parton built her career the hard way. She was born on 19th January 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee, and grew up as the fourth of twelve children in a one-room cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains place. Nonetheless, the her home was special to her. In 1973, she reminded of that time at My Tennessee Mountain Home. Lovely storytelling!

 

Baby I’m Burning 

I already praised the open-mindedness of Dolly. This song, which has been part of the 1978 Heartbreaker album, is a perfect example for that. There is not too much country music in this song – therefor, the Tennessee native presents a straight disco-dancefloor song. And – as it is Dolly – it is working out.

 

Let It Be (with Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr)

Maybe, this one is the most surprising nomination to you. Dolly recorded so many amazing collaboration songs – not only Islands In the Stream. Let It Be is an absolute The Beatles classic – and this 2023 recording adds a lot of Dolly Parton spirit to the song. This one simply touches me deeply.

 

Title picture: Dennis Carney A, public domain

 

Country Music Legends

Here are all my country music postings marked as music legends contents:

 

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