She was truly one-of-a-kind.
The world is simply not the same without Dolly Parton, who sadly passed away at 80-years-old in Nashville Tennessee on August 25th, 202 following a brief battle with cancer.
The world continues to mourn her loss, and plenty of her friends have shared special memories of Dolly, including Reba, who knew Dolly for decades. The two of them first met in 1977 at the Grand Ole Opry, and Dolly also famously offered her entire band to Reba after a tragic plane crash in 1991 took the lives of 7 band members and her tour manager. Dolly ultimately sent her band leader, Gary Smith, to help her put a new band together.
Reba’s NBC comedy show Happy’s Place just kicked off the third season last week, and the October 30th episode, titled “Skeletons in the Closet,” will conclude with a smiling photograph of the longtime friends and the words:
“We will always love you.”
Dolly’s passed during the week they were filming the second episode of the season, and everyone, like the rest of the world, was devastated.
In an interview with USA TODAY, Reba says everyone on set was “pretty tore up” over it, and she learned that one of the show’s camera operators had been there when Dolly appeared as a guest star on Reba’s previous self-titled sitcom in 2005, which they filmed around Valentine’s Day.
Dolly had handed out a candy heart to every crew member at the time, something Reba didn’t find out about until recently. She says she wasn’t surprised, though, because that’s just the kind of person Dolly was:
“I didn’t even know that story. But that’s the type of person she was. I never have met a person that says, ‘I don’t like Dolly Parton.’ Everybody loves her worldwide and was touched by her passing.”
I miss her… she was kind down to the depths of her soul, and never missed an opportunity to show love and kindness to any person she came across. There aren’t many people like that in the world, and that’s just part of what made her so special.
The picture they’re going to use for the tribute on Happy’s Place is a shot from their 2021 remake of “Does He Love You,” and Reba says she’s “blessed” to have gotten to do that song with her friend:
“Every memory I have with Dolly is a good one. I am so fortunate and blessed to got to do a song with her.”
Reba reflected on the massive loss that it was to lose Dolly, saying that it was not only her musical impact that will leave a lasting legacy, but more importantly her giving spirit that I’m not sure any other human being could match:
“It’s the breadth of her music, from rock and roll to bluegrass, to songs about cheating to songs about her spirituality. And what I’ve learned about Dolly is that Dolly’s a giver, I knew that, but I had no idea to the extent.”
In September, Reba honored Dolly with a flawless performance of Dolly’s song “Appalachian Memories,” which was released in 1983 as part of her 25th solo studio album, Burlap & Satin. Dolly wrote it about her life growing up in the Appalachian mountains, and the struggles of poor families like hers. It was emotional, and flawless, and Reba was the perfect selection for the moment.
Reflecting on the performance, Reba says she could feel Dolly with her, adding that she “wasn’t nervous” but couldn’t look at anybody in the crowd because she knew she would lose it and she wanted to do a “good job for Dolly”:
“I felt Dolly with me on the stage. I really did. I wasn’t nervous, even though I knew it was going to be a very heavy, touching moment. I never looked at one person. I wouldn’t look at anybody because I knew I wanted to do a good job for Dolly and for the Emmy organization.
But mainly I didn’t look just to get through it. Because it is a very heartfelt autobiographical song from Dolly.”
Reba says that she got about four feet away from the dressing room after the performance when she “broke down and started crying”:
“I said my ‘thank you’s,’ and headed backstage to the dressing room. About four feet away from the dressing room, I broke down and started crying.”
I’m impressed she got that far, honestly.
It’s simply overwhelming everything Dolly did in her life, and the legacy she left behind goes far beyond her music. Hearing stories from people that knew her, or even interacted with her once like on a TV set, confirm that Dolly was everything the public throughout her to be and so much more, and like many have said since her passing, there will never be another Dolly.
You can, and should, watch Reba’s “Appalachian Memories” perfromance at the Emmys here:
This is just pure country perfection…
“Does He Love You”
