Little known facts about the "Queen of the Country" Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton one of the greatest legends twentieth centurywho won the title "Country Queens"! Her repertoire includes immortal singles and outstanding albums! The world audience admires Parton, but ... few people know what she really is. Most people know this woman as simply smart, charming and talented blonde! However ... the biography of Dolly Parton is full of grief and an endless desire for success. And even if you are not one of Parton's biggest fans, the following facts from her biography will make you fall in love with this beautiful singer even more! If you've only known Parton through her singles, then this is a great opportunity to get to know her a little better and dispel some of the rumors that have haunted her since she first hit the Nashville…
Her first performance took place when she was only 10 years old.
Today it seems to us that Dolly Parton reigned on the stage almost always! But that's only because for the first time she picked up the microphone in 1956 year, aged 10 years! It happened on the show Casa Walker…
As Parton herself later recalled, she approached Walker when he was backstage at his show and told him that she "wanted to work for him." Cas just couldn't say no to the little girl...
She moved to Nashville right after high school
From an early age Dolly Parton dreamed of being a country star, so it's no wonder she dropped out of college and went straight to Nashville! According to the singer, her first day in Nashville was like a scene from a movie:
“I just couldn't believe the day I arrived in Nashville… I thought, 'I'm here. I'm really here! I'm really here forever! I am here to live and be a part of it…”
Her family was so poor they paid the doctor with a bag of oatmeal.
Many of Dolly's songs (including her hit "Coat of Many Colors") revolve around her childhood poverty ... As Parton herself admitted, she grew up in the "dirty poor" in Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. She was one of 12 children and they had neither electricity nor running water at home.
According to Dolly, one day her father paid the doctor with a bag of oatmeal.
"Jolene" was inspired by a girl Dolly met during an autograph session.
It turns out that one of Parton's most famous songs is, of course, about the often covered "Jolene" - was inspired by a girl with the same name, whom the singer met during the signing of autographs.
According to Parton herself, when she asked the girl what her name was and heard "Jolene", "light bulb lit":
I said, "That's the most beautiful name I've ever heard... I'll write a song about you, and if you ever hear it, you'll know it was about you..."
She refused to sell "I Will Always Love You" to Elvis
After Dolly released a big hit «I Will Always Love You», the king of rock and roll Elvis Presley asked her to do a cover of this song! But Parton refused him...
As a self-confident woman, Dolly apparently did the right thing: after all, just a couple of decades later, the charming Whitney Houston make "I Will Always Love You" a timeless hit...
As a teenager, she dyed her lips red with mercurochrome.
Since her father forbade his daughters from wearing lipstick, Dolly and her sisters had to come up with interesting ways to get around this rule ... So, one day they found the only sure way - to rub their lips mercurochrome! As a result, the lips really turned red ...
“I painted my lips like that and saw that dad could not do anything. He couldn't erase it! Those little bottles of mercurochrome were just perfect to get around the ban... Dad said, "Come here, take that lipstick off you!" To this I quite calmly answered: “Dad, this is my natural lip color ...”
She still keeps the car she bought her mother
Some of the first things Parton bought when she became a big star in country music were a truck for her father and Cadillac for her mother! Curiously, the latter still belongs to Dolly:
“I bought my mother a Cadillac, and he came back to me when my mother was gone ... Because it was my mother's car, and I still drive it! I call her "Dolly Mom". Everyone knows that “Dolly Mama” should not be messed with, because it is truly a precious thing ... I have always been so proud of what I can now do for my family when I started making money ... "
She has secret tattoos
Rumors that Dolly Parton hides secret tattoos behind his long sleeves, turned out to be true! It turns out that the singer does have tattoos (mostly dedicated to her husband, with whom she has been together for over 50 years), but they were made to hide unsightly scars from various cosmetic surgeries…
She lost the competition for herself
For a long time, there were rumors on the net that Dolly Parton participated in the competition for herself and ... lost. The singer later admitted:
“It was a parody contest, and I decided to participate: for this, I did more bright makeup, more lush hair and all that! There were all these beautiful women and men who worked for weeks and even months on the image! And I received a minimum of applause - against the background of all these “Dollys”, I looked very small and funny ... But I was not upset!
She has a wig for "every day of the year"
Since Dolly has been performing for so many years, it's no wonder she has so many stage costumes! But who knew she had so many wigs? When Vogue asked her the exact number, Parton could not even count:
“Oh my god, I have no idea! I can't count them! I always joke and say “I have a wig for almost every day of the year”, so I must have at least 365 wigs!”
Her tour bus has a bathtub
The stories about Dolly's collection of cosmetics and personal souvenirs have reached mythical proportions in recent years! There are tales of a bunker full of dresses and even a private tour bus bathroom! But it turns out the rumors are, in a way, true... During an interview with Dolly (during her European tour), the reporter The Guardian I saw the singer's tourist bath with my own eyes! During the bus tour, Parton's manager showed off a "ceramic recess in the floor, two feet deep"!
