Dolly Parton: ‘I’ve Got Plenty Of Work To Do’
Dolly Parton went right back to work after her husband of 60 years, Carl Dean, passed away in early March. Going back to work and appearing at Dollywood and an event at Nashville’s Symphony Center seemed to get her mind off the sadness she has felt since she lost her beloved Carl.
I’ve been lucky enough to have talked to Dolly many times over the years in interviews. In one interview a while back, she told me she didn’t really feel like the star she is. The country icon told me, “I can’t honestly say if there was a particular point in my career where I thought I’d arrived. In my early days when I first got my first encore when I was a little girl, that’s when I thought that I was gonna definitely be in show business, but I still don’t think I’ve arrived.”
She added, “I’m still a working girl, and I still never think of myself as a star, I’ve got plenty of work to do.”
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Parton reacted to the tribute made to her and her late husband on the Opry 100 TV special, in which Reba said, closing the show, “It’s been a great night of celebration, but it’s just not the same without you.” She then alluded to Parton’s husband passing earlier this month, saying, “Everyone here at the Opry and around the whole wants to send you our thoughts and prayers, and you gotta know, we will always love you.”
McEntire, Lady A, and Carrie Underwood then led an all-star choir in singing Dolly’s “I Will Always Love You” at the Opry 100: A Live Celebration television special, which aired live from the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on March 19.
Parton wrote on Insta Stories after watching the tribute, “I have not stopped crying over the beautiful tribute of ‘I Will Always Love You’ on the 100th Anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry show.”
She added, “All those beautiful people with all their beautiful voices singing my song as a tribute to my husband Carl … the emotion was beyond words. I have cried enough to wash a great deal of the pain away, so thanks to all of you beautiful people who helped make that possible. I also will always love you.”
