“I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb… and I also know that I’m not blonde”*…
– Dolly Parton helped bring the seminal and beloved TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer into existence. Her production company, Sandollar Productions, will be familiar to you from the end credits.
– The Ku Klux Klan sent Dolly Parton death threats in the mid-2000’s because Dollywood hosted an annual “Gay Day.” Dolly: “God tells us not to judge one another, no matter what anyone’s sexual preferences are or if they’re black, brown or purple. And if someone doesn’t believe what I believe, tough shit.”
– Dolly Parton once lost a Dolly Parton drag contest.
“I just over-exaggerated—made my beauty mark bigger, the eyes bigger, the hair bigger, everything. All these beautiful drag queens had worked for weeks and months getting their clothes. So I got in the line and I walked across, and they just thought I was some little short gay guy. I got the least applause.”
… just some of The Awl‘s “Facts about Dolly Parton” (on the occasion of her 70th birthday).
* Dolly Parton
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As we swear our undying love, we might also remark on Emmylou Harris. A solo artist, bandleader, interpreter of other composers’ works, singer-songwriter, backing vocalist, and duet partner, she has collaborated with artists including Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, John Denver, Linda Ronstadt, Roy Orbison, the Band, Patty Griffin, Mark Knopfler, Delbert McClinton, Guy Clark, Willie Nelson, Bright Eyes, Rodney Crowell, John Prine, Neil Young, Steve Earle, Ryan Adams…. and of course, Dolly Parton. Harris became a member of the Grand Ole Opry on this date in 1992.
