Clearing up a long-standing myth.
Though it still doesn’t feel real, the queen of country music herself, Dolly Parton, passed away yesterday at 80 years old in Nashville, Tennessee. Announcing her tragic passing, her team shared the following statement about her death:
“A rhinestone life that shone bright enough for the world to see, Dolly will forever stand as an inspiration not only through her timeless music and prolific songwriting, but also her wit, warmth, and kindness that made us all feel like family.
Dolly Parton’s legacy is one of love, compassion, and resilience. With a seven-decade career, she inspired multiple generations of artists and fans with her music and an unwavering commitment to making the world a better place. Her songs will continue to resonate with people of all ages, and her philanthropic work will have a lasting impact.”
Throughout the evening, more details surrounding her death began to surface, with TMZ reporting she was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville on Friday morning with “kidney and autoimmune issues” and a rep confirming to People that her death sadly followed a “brief battle with cancer,” though the specific kind was not revealed.
Unsurprisingly, the country music world — and the world at large — has been mourning her death. Online, legends such as George Strait, Reba and Blake Shelton, as well as Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw and Ella Langley (among plenty of others) took to social media to pen tributes, share memories and send condolences to the Parton family.
Since her passing, there have been plenty of memories shared, stories swapped and facts posted online about the late legend. One in particular that keeps making its rounds on various social media platforms is the fact that two of her biggest hits, “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene,” which were penned independently, were written back-to-back on the very same day.
Of course, the fact seems reasonable enough, not only because Parton was one of the most prolific songwriters in the genre’s history, but also due to the fact that they both made their way on her iconic 1974 album, Jolene, being the record’s two singles, which would subsequently go #1.
Ultimately, the fact stemmed from her interview with Bobby Bones back in 2018. While discussing the differences between her original version of “I Will Always Love You” and Whitney Houston’s cover, which went on to become one of the best-selling songs of all time upon its release in 1992 for The Bodyguard soundtrack, Parton would say they were written “at the same time.” In particular, her calling the writing session a “good writing day” lead many to believe that they were, in fact, written withing a 24-hour timeframe.
“In 1972, I wrote, it. At the same time, I wrote ‘Jolene.’ That was a good writing day.”
With that being said, however, the 11x Grammy winner would clarify and debunk the claim during a conversation with TED speaker Adam Grant. Here, she would admit that she doesn’t actually remember if they were written on the same day. With that being said, however, the demo tapes were both on the same cassette, meaning that they were, at most, written within the span of just a few days.
“Well, I don’t really know if they were written in the same night. When we found an old tape, they were on the same cassette. That could have been a few days apart. … But they also wound up on the same album. They were certainly written within a very short span of time.”
As it turns out, the two smash hits most likely were not written on the very same day. Even so, however, there’s no doubt that those few days turned out to birth two of the most impactful and important songs in country music history. Like many have said over the past 24 hours, there will never be another Dolly Parton.
“Jolene”
“I Will Always Love You”
