Dolly Parton Talks COVID and Black Lives Matter in Revealing Story
The legend opens up like never before in Billboard's Country Power Players issue.
Dolly Parton is no stranger to speaking her mind, and fans have always loved her for it. But she opens up like never before in a new story for Billboard, bringing a refreshing blast of honesty to today’s biggest issues.
Speaking for the magazine’s annual “Country Power Players” issue (which finds her on the cover), the iconic artist does’t hold much back. She actually takes her typical down home honesty to the next level, candidly weighing in on everything from the coronavirus pandemic to the Black Lives Matter movement — and even how she’s preparing her empire for the terrible day when she’ll leave this world. It’s all approached from a business perspective, which helps explain why the superstar felt comfortable opening up, but it paints a colorful portrait of a living legend in the modern era.
Here’s a sample of pull quotes from the story:
On how the pandemic has affected her business empire:
“We certainly are not going to have a great year this year. Hopefully by coming back, we’ll pick up some stuff that we’ve lost. All of the things that I’m involved in are on hold, even my production companies and the movies — everything [took] a big hit. But I still believe, still trust God, and I’m still hoping for the best.”
On supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and protests:
“I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen,” she says. “And of course, Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!”
On changing the name of Dixie Stampede dinner attraction:
“There’s such a thing as innocent ignorance, and so many of us are guilty of that. When they said ‘Dixie’ was an offensive word, I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to offend anybody. This is a business. We’ll just call it The Stampede.’ As soon as you realize that [something] is a problem, you should fix it. Don’t be a dumbass. That’s where my heart is. I would never dream of hurting anybody on purpose.”
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On the importance of diversifying with business ventures like Dollywood:
“I often wonder why more artists don’t do more things like that to have something to fall back on if things don’t work out the way they’d hoped — or just to have something more. I feel like even if I wasn’t popular anymore, I could always sing at Dollywood.”
On getting her estate and will in order:
“I would not want to leave that mess to somebody else. A word to all the other artists out there: If you haven’t made those provisions, do that. You don’t want to leave that mess to your family for people to have to fight over. You need to take care of that yourself, even if it’s a pain in the ass — and it is.”
On whether she’d sell her publishing catalog:
“At the right time, I probably would sell it to put more money in my estate or for my family and start all over again. You still have to have some control. You don’t just say, ‘Here’s my whole life, my soul.’ You’re going to stay involved to a degree.”
