I couldn’t have said it better myself.
On Friday, Miranda Lambert released her new disco-inspired album Crisco, which she co-produced with Jesse Frasure. It features 12 tracks as Miranda explores “heartbreak and hope, highways and honky-tonks, rhinestones and reflection, creating a record that feels both timeless and refreshingly alive.”
She’s been doing tons of press around the release, and during a fascinating conversation on the New York Times podcast Popcast, she confirmed the long-standing rumors about her feud with Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger, talked about her reconciliation with her fellow Texas star Miss Kacey Musgraves, and of course, she talked about the late, great Dolly Parton, who passed away at 80-years-old in Nashville Tennessee.
Dolly had been dealing with undisclosed health issues for the last year or so. She previously shared that she was having issues with severe kidney stones. Dolly’s reps confirmed she sadly died following a “brief battle with cancer,” though the specific kind was not revealed.
Miranda and Dolly worked together several times throughout their overlapping careers, and Dolly was and is one of Miranda’s heroes. In 2018, they re-recorded Parton’s 1967 hit song “Dumb Blonde” for the soundtrack of the Netflix film Dumplin’, and in 2019, they shared the stage at the 61st Grammy Awards for a special medley of Dolly’s hits alongside several other artists.
While Dolly was many things, an actress, a philanthropist, a business owner and much more, at the core of who she always was she remained a songwriter, writing songs every single day no matter what was going on in her life.
Miranda acknowledged that songwriting was always Dolly’s true passion, no matter “how on top of the world” she was with other accomplishments or endeavors:
“She loved nothing more than to write a song, and she would say that no matter how on top of the world she was. That’s what she would say.”
While Dolly became a global icon, far surpassing just being the country artist she started out as, she always handled everything with so much grace and class, which Miranda explained is part of the reason everyone loved her so much.
Like many of us have said since Dolly passed, there will never be another person on earth like her:
“The world saw the actress, and the brand, and the Dollywood, and the songwriter and singer, but I feel like it got bigger than the songs to the world, but not to her. We don’t know where she stood and that’s fine with me. Like, she never said too much, she said just enough that made everybody feel comfortable.
And that’s grace, and that’s class, and you know, I’m a lot more rough around the edges as far as just a woman then she was, but I feel like she just had such class and grace, and was so smart and loving. There will never be another person on earth like her.”
Amen to that, Miranda…
Dolly just had that rare quality, to always now exactly what to say and make everyone feel seen and loved, and the way she lived her life is certainly example I think we’d all be better off following.
@popcastMiranda Lambert reflects on the legacy of Dolly Parton in country music and beyond. Tap the link in our bio to watch the full episode.♬ original sound – Popcast
So far from Crisco, I’m loving Miranda’s highly-anticipated duet with Ella Langley “Snakeskin Boots,” as well as her nostalgic cover of Jim Croce’s “I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song.”
“Snakeskin Boots”
“I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song”
Crisco Track List
1. Snakeskin Boots
2. Crisco
3. Cowgirl Curtsy
4. Two Things Can Be True
5. Cuttin’ Onions
6. Till The Going’s Gone
7. To Everything
8. Whiskey Business
9. Right Where We Left It
10. A Song To Sing (with Chris Stapleton)
11. I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song
12. Sunset Marquis
