Dolly Parton Says Classic Hymn “Precious Memories” Reminds Her Of Late Friends Loretta Lynn, Naomi Judd & Kenny Rogers

Dolly Parton country music

Although it’s been one helluva year for country music in 2022, it’s been a difficult one as well, as we lost Naomi Judd, Loretta Lynn, Jerry Lee Lewis, and a number of others.

With that being said, there’s been one country icon who has been taking the losses extremely tough, and it’s no other than Dolly Parton.

Parton was great friends with both Naomi and Loretta, and in a recent interview with TODAY, she discussed the losses of her dear friends.

She shared:

“Those things are very special. With Loretta, she was very dear to me, like a sister. Same with Naomi. We were same age, and we loved the same things. And I loved her.

And then I also lost Kenny Rogers… three of my dearest people… in the business, in a very short period of time. And I grieve over them almost like you do a family member. And I think of them, but you try to keep the good memories.”

Parton also mentioned one song in particular that helps remind her of the loved ones she’s lost, and it’s Alan Jackson’s “Precious Memories:”

“There’s that old song, ‘Precious Memories,’ the line I love in that song is, ‘Precious memories, unseen angels sent from somewhere to my soul.’ And I think about that, those precious memories, they just flow in and out of you, and you remember special things about them

Unseen angels… you feel like they’re still all around you.”

“Precious Memories” was originally credited to  to J. B. F. Wright in 1925.

However, a number of versions have been recorded by some of the greatest artists in country music over the years. We’re talking everybody from Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers to Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Alan Jackson and more.

Dolly Parton herself released a version for her 1999 Dollywood-exclusive album to raise money for the Dollywood Foundation.

A beer bottle on a dock

STAY ENTERTAINED

A RIFF ON WHAT COUNTRY IS REALLY ABOUT

A beer bottle on a dock