Only Dolly Parton could get away with something like this.
She met Johnny Cash during her first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry in 1959, when she was just 13 years old. Cash ended up introducing her to the crowd, and Dolly famously received three encores that evening.
Cash was 32 at the time, and Dolly has said before that she couldn’t resist his undeniable charisma, charm and all-around good looks that made him one of the most recognizable and iconic artists in all of music. I mean, who could blame her? She certainly wasn’t the only one…
Later on, the two country icons became friends, and Dolly recalled the first time meeting the Man in Black during a recent interview with People:
“I was starstruck with Johnny Cash. Because that’s when he was young, and to me, I was a young girl, and that was the first time I ever knew or understood what sex appeal was.
Or that feeling that just made you feel all kinds of things all over your body, and I felt that from Johnny Cash… that was the first grown person I had that [with]. I had little crushes on boyfriends, but that’s when my hormones were beginning to rage, and I just felt all those feelings for him. Because he was very charismatic…
I thought about it years later, and that was the first time I understood what the call charisma, or whatever that thing is people have. Well, he had that thing, it worked its magic on me.”
But the best part of the story is what she told June about the whole thing, joking with her that she “had him first” and loved Johnny before she did:
“And we stayed friends all through the years, and I told him that he was my first big crush, and I told June that years later. I told her, ‘I had him first. I loved him before you did.’ Having him introduce me that night as a very young girl, I was just a teenager, and I got to sing on the Grand Ole Opry.”
Like I said, something only Dolly Parton could get away with…
It’s a famous story, one Dolly has talked about for decades, but Johnny Cash didn’t have quite the reaction you would think he would to it. In 1997, Johnny appeared on Ralph Emory On The Record in promotion of his book Cash, in which he talks about being the first person to introduce Dolly at the Opry.
They then played Johnny some of her comments about how “sexy” she found him, and while you would think Johnny would’ve been at least slightly animated, or even a little flustered, by the compliment, he was pretty stoic in his very simple response:
“I really appreciate that… that was nice of her.”
Dolly Parton, an extremely well-known sex symbol in her own right, just said Johnny was the first man that ever made her horny and that’s all he’s got to say about it? I mean, I expected just a little bit more than that, but hey, I think it’s safe to say that Mrs. June Carter Cash probably appreciated that classy response. Johnny was a smart man, indeed…
It’s a story that never gets old, and proves once again that Dolly is the queen and no one else even comes close.
You can watch the full interview below.
