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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
American Icon Dolly Parton Dies At 80; The World Remembers Dolly Parton; Empire State Building Glows Pink In Honor Of Dolly Parton. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired August 25, 2026 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DOLLY PARTON, AMERICAN MUSICIAN AND ACTRESS: I'd just like to be known for what I think I am.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
PARTON: Which is just a regular person.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
PARTON: I always say I'm a -- I'm a workhorse that looks like a show horse. I just hope I leave something good behind for other people to enjoy.
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Randi Kaye. CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: What an incredible life.
That is all for us. The news continues. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: From the banks of the Little Pigeon River, to the corridors of power here in Washington, and in countless churches, music halls, and living rooms around the country tonight, we are all remembering the one, the only Dolly Parton. She died at age 80 today, after what her publicist described as a, quote, Brief battle with cancer.
Now hers was not just one story. Rags to riches, backwoods to the big screen, global reach and personal connections. It was a layered tale that even she at times marveled at.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, AMERICAN TV SHOW HOST AND WRITER: Do you ever look -- you look at your upbringing. You look at all that's happened to you. Do you ever look in the mirror and kind of pinch yourself?
PARTON: Well, I do feel very fortunate. When I look in the mirror, that's not what I'm thinking. I pinch myself here and pinch myself there. Say, Well can I pull that up a little? Maybe that needs to go. But anyway, I do pinch myself sometimes, thinking that, you know, this is really amazing. I thank God every day for it, I'm very humbled by it. Because I know so many people that have had the same dreams that I've had that never get to see them come true.
So, I know a certain amount of it is luck. A lot of it's hard work. I've been very fortunate. I do work hard, and I've always said I have more guts than talent, but I try to keep those two things balanced, and I try, when I have a dream, to kind of get it out there and push it, you know, push it on through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: To accurately describe Dolly Parton would require more hyphens than we have time for tonight. She was a legend, an icon, a businesswoman, a philanthropist, an actress, singer, songwriter, author, big personality. It goes on and on, which is why, from Los Angeles to Sevierville, Tennessee tonight, so many people are feeling this loss to their core.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She means a lot to me and so many of my friends. As an idol, she brings strength, you know, and she just had such a big heart. She was a true human being.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She lived what she -- she -- who she was. She was a dreamer, and she was so much love.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was a beauty. She was -- she had energy. She was a humanitarian. She saw the goodness in so many things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: It's clear from today's tributes alone that Dolly Parton meant so much to so many, and I am no exception.
As a young girl, growing up in the Deep South, Dolly was right up there with every other music legend that made up the soundtrack to our childhood.
I can still remember my family driving, from our home in Alabama, up to Pigeon Forge, often blaring songs like "Hard Candy Christmas," as the leaves were turning in the fall. The first person I called when I heard of Dolly's death today was my sister, who was often next to me in the backseat, as we were singing Dolly's songs in our old Jeep Grand Cherokee. We loved our trips to the Great Smoky Mountains, the same mountains that gave all of us Dolly Parton.
She spent her own childhood in a small shack with her 11 siblings in Sevierville, in a home that had no power and no running water, but, as you can tell from the words of her music, a lot of love. Just listen to "Coat of Many Colors" to see what I mean.
There's a life-sized replica of that childhood home at Dolly's self- named theme park, Dollywood. I've been to Dollywood more times than I can count, and it's as much as a part of my childhood as her music is. But it's also more than that. It's a tribute to her humble upbringing and what she treasured the most about it. And as she says, it not only inspired her music, it inspired her whole life.
Now, whatever song you're hearing play over and over in your head tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON PERFORMS "JOLENE")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Whether it's "Jolene," "9 to 5," "Islands in the Stream," part of the reason that it feels so personal to so many people, this evening, is because Dolly had this ability to connect us through her music.
[21:05:00]
Her voice, her smile, her lyrics, they seem woven into the fabric of so many decades, from the black and white of the early days in syndicated television, to her ascendance in the charts of the 1970s, to movie screens in the business world of the 80s. She always had a knack for adapting to the times, while also always staying true to herself.
And though she stood just about five feet tall, Dolly Parton was a giant who never lost touch with that little girl that was born poor in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARTON: Well, I think she'd be very proud. She -- I'm who she dreamed of being, all those many years ago, and thank God for America, that dreams can come true. And I always love those rags to riches stories because it is -- it shows you that dreams can come true. And living in a wonderful place like America, even coming from, you know, from the salt of the earth, like we did, you know I think that's -- that makes for wonderful stories.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Her story is our story. The music, the movies, the moments are threaded through our own, woven through the decades with an honesty, an openness, and that knowing wink that she had that defined her just as much as the hair, the style, and yes, even her plastic surgery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Why, Dolly, have you been so open to discuss your cosmetic procedures?
PARTON: Well because, people like you ask me, and I don't want to lie about it. KING: Well, some people could say it's none of your business, and---
PARTON: Well, yes. But I don't want to lie about it, so I've got to -- I think sometimes it might help. You know, it's not like -- I mean, I look so totally artificial, you know, but I hopefully am totally real. But if somebody wants to know something--
KING: All right.
PARTON: --I would say if I -- you know, if I see something sagging, dragging or bagging, I'm going to go have the stuff tucked or plucked.
KING: A British newspaper reporter who met you wrote: The breasts looked as if they are full of air. Rather--
PARTON: They are.
KING: --Rather than plastic or jelly, they seemed to hover between us, generating a force field of their own.
PARTON: Well, that's a good -- that's a good explanation.
I am so tiny that my boobs just look so much bigger than they are. They're actually just about 39 inches around. But they do look like I pump them up with a bicycle pump. But I like them. Like I say, I don't know -- I mean, they have served me well. I don't know if I'm supporting them or they're supporting me, but it's working, and I'm happy with it. So, as long as I'm happy, I can make everybody else happy. And I don't care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: In a time and here in Washington, a city that can seem so divisive, Dolly Parton never was. When she was asked, actually, in 1997, how she maintains devoted fans from both the religious right and the gay community, she said this: Quote, It's two different worlds, and I live in both, and I love them both, and I understand and accept both.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARTON: Because of the way I was brought up and my beliefs and principles and values hopefully, that I count my blessings more than I count my money. I just feel like if I'm doing what I am happy doing and doing things to share and to help everybody else, I, of course, will make tons of money. And as I've always joked, it cost a lot to look this cheap, and I need the money.
But it ain't just about the money. I really love the work. I love the creative end of it. I love seeing and making and helping things happen. And it really is a great thing. I know that I'm very fortunate, but I don't take a bit of that for granted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: One amazing part of her legacy goes far beyond her ability to entertain us. Programs like The Dollywood Foundation, which funds the Dolly Imagination Library live on tonight. It started in Sevier County, Tennessee, and it provides children with a book, every month, from birth to kindergarten. It's a program that has spread to other parts of the country and all around the globe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARTON: I'm very proud and honored to be a part of anything that is going to make the world a better place. And I just give from my heart. I never know what I'm going to do or why I'm going to do it. I just see a need, and if I can fill it, then I will.
It goes, books, books.
Oh, I got artificial nails, so it makes sounds like this. Can you hear that?
(LAUGHTER)
PARTON: OK, let me get a little rhythm here.
Oh, books, books. I love books. The way they feel and smell and look. From my first look I was hooked on books, books, books.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: You can just imagine how many parents, who have been singing her songs, all day long, are reading books, to their kids tonight, that were gifted to them by Dolly Parton.
On stage, her list of powerhouse duets is a who's who of genre-bending musicians. Performances like this one show that while her roots were always country, her reach had no limits.
[21:10:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON & MELISSA ETHERIDGE PERFORM "I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: And Dolly's duet partner, that you saw on that stage in 2003, is my source tonight. The one and only Grammy-winning superstar, Melissa Etheridge.
And thank you, Melissa, for being here.
Because, I think everyone is still coming to terms with this, with the loss of someone like Dolly Parton. And I'm so grateful that you're here to talk about her. And I just wonder what's going through your mind as we come on the air tonight.
MELISSA ETHERIDGE, GRAMMY & ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING MUSICIAN/ARTIST: Well, I appreciate you asking me because it really helps to talk about her. It really does. And that's -- I think the moment that I'm feeling so largely now is just how much of an effect she had on everyone.
People -- that duet you saw, we did a -- we did a whole -- it was called Crossroads on Country Music Television, and this is in 2003, when it's the height of gay marriage debate. And of all the people in the world, when they asked her to do the first female Crossroads, she asked me, of all people, and I was so honored. In her own way, she was reaching across to our community, which she has never let down. The LGBTQ community loves her, loves everything she's done.
On stage that night, I remember, she said, Oh, I'm all for gay marriage. I think gays should be just as miserable as straight people. You know?
(LAUGHTER)
ETHERIDGE: And that's how she -- that's how she did it, and we all laughed and went, Yes, and it normalizes all of us, and all our differences, and she just knew how to do that, and I just cannot speak enough about that. She's a real hero because of that.
COLLINS: I mean, what was that like for you, when she did pick you to be on stage with her?
ETHERIDGE: Oh, I was so delighted, I was thrilled. And then she came over to my house. We filmed at my house, and the night before we did it. She was so kind. I mean, I had met her before in different situations, but she just was -- she was -- I just hear stories after stories about how amazing she is.
Friends of mine, actually, he's right there, Bob Greenblatt, he came -- he came to see the CMT Crossroads I did with her and asked her if she would do "9 to 5" as a musical on Broadway, and she said yes.
And the stories that he and my wife, who also worked with him on "9 to 5" on Broadway, would say that they'd be in there working, and all of a sudden Dolly would show up, who was staying in a hotel room in New York City, and she'd show up and say, I made fudge last night. And you're like, How did you make fudge in a New York City hotel? But she could do that. This is how she was. She was so beautiful and so real.
COLLINS: You know, I mean, I can't even imagine what it would be like to have Dolly Parton come over to your home, and how that would feel, knowing that, that she's in your house.
ETHERIDGE: Yes, no, she's -- she was amazing. The first thing you're kind of struck by is how small she is. I myself am small, but I'm a couple inches taller than her. And she wears those heels. She's just -- she's so sure of herself that she's a woman that feels good when she did her hair, when she had her makeup on. She loved to feel that way, and she was unapologetic about it. And that's the way she walked into my home. She was just loving and kind.
COLLINS: I mean, that kind of confidence must have just been contagious to even be in the presence of someone who felt so assured in themselves. And also, I mean, we were just listening to some of those sound bites. Every interview she did, it felt like someone asked her about her looks and her appearance and what she wore, and she had no problem--
ETHERIDGE: Yes.
COLLINS: --answering those questions.
ETHERIDGE: She was such an inspiration to me about being yourself, and she was unapologetically herself, and you loved her for being herself.
[21:15:00]
And I look up to her. I look to her and how she, in the last 10 years, has navigated these waters of division that we seem to be swimming in, and she just constantly was able to reach across, was beloved by every walk of person internationally. She's -- it's hard to really put into words just what an amazing woman this was on every front.
COLLINS: I'm glad you brought up the moment that the country was in, when y'all were on stage together in that -- in that first to have two women, female artists paired together. Because she has been such an advocate for the LGBTQ community and for her fans.
And there was a quote, when she was asked about this once, that I love, and this is what she said about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: What do you think it is? Your tie-in with the gay community?
PARTON: Well, I have a lot of gay fans, female and male. And I think I've been at this so long, a lot of people feel like they've grown up with me. As you know, I've always been outspoken, I've always been pretty outrageous, I always believe that a person should be who they are. And you should be comfortable being who you are and people should leave you alone to be who you are and how you are.
So, I think I've always been accepted in the gay community because I accept them. And I have so many fans that always love to come to the shows and they know that I'm not judging them.
I think people are who they are and I'm not God, I'm not a judge, we're supposed to love each other exactly for who and what we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I wonder what it's like for you to hear that.
ETHERIDGE: It's so -- you can just imagine how many lives she saved. You can just imagine how many young boys and girls were in their room going, Hey, Dolly doesn't judge me. Dolly wants me to be just who I am, and she's just who she is.
That's huge. That's all -- That's all you have to do to change the world, and I believe she has. COLLINS: How are you going to remember her, as you look back on?
ETHERIDGE: Oh.
COLLINS: I mean, there are so many facets of her life. Like, it's hard to even -- to even count them.
ETHERIDGE: Yes, I'm just -- I'm going to just -- I remember -- I was fortunate to know her. I was fortunate to have conversations with her. I was fortunate enough to breathe the air she was breathing. I was fortunate enough to know her beyond the music and the acting and all the philanthropy. I just knew her as a person, and that's how I'm going to remember.
I'm going to remember her, so sincerely pulling me aside, at the Crossroads concert and saying, Melissa -- this was at sound check. This was before we did the song. She goes, You know, I love your song, "Bring Me Some Water," and we're going to sing it. I just -- I just think of my mother, and I just can't sing, Sweet Devil's got my soul. I'm going to have to sing that Old Devil's Got My Soul.
And I said, Dolly, you sing whatever you want.
And just her that's -- that's conviction to her belief and her love of her family, and friends, and herself. And I meet her where she is. She meets me where I am. That's the beauty of her. And I hope we can all just be more like Dolly. I want to start, you know, What would Dolly do?
COLLINS: I totally agree. I think everyone should be -- try to be more like Dolly every day.
Did you have a favorite song of hers?
ETHERIDGE: Oh, I love so many. I mean, "Jolene" is one of my top 10 favorite songs of all time. So, I love that. I love "Coat of Many Colors" is a simple song that goes straight to your heart. What a beautiful story and her own personal story. I was always inspired by how she put her personal thoughts and feelings and stories into her songs.
She's a much more talented guitar player than she lets on. She let her nails grow, her acrylic nails grow, and so she couldn't -- she had to tune the guitar in a different way to where she could play with her long nails but -- and -- but she was actually an accomplished guitar player, and there's just so much that people don't know about her.
COLLINS: Yes.
Melissa, I loved what you said about how many lives that she saved with her comments and her honesty. And I'm so grateful that you joined us tonight to talk about her legacy. So, thank you, Melissa Etheridge, for joining us here tonight.
[21:20:00]
ETHERIDGE: Thank you so much.
My family, my children, my daughter who is here, my teenage daughter, asked me, What's everyone going to do? And she asked if we were going to have a parade. And I think we should have a Dolly Parton parade somehow. OK?
COLLINS: I second that. So, let's get that started.
ETHERIDGE: Thank you.
COLLINS: Melissa, thank you so much.
And we are going to continue paying tribute to Dolly Parton and the incredible legacy that she leaves behind tonight, not just as an artist, but also as a philanthropist and an American icon. I'm going to speak live with the country music star, Pam Tillis, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:25:00]
COLLINS: It was Dolly Parton's larger-than-life personality that gave rise to a universally-beloved pillar of American culture that stretched far beyond the world of country music. But it was actually her humble beginnings, long before her reign as a global icon, that fueled her into becoming one of the most philanthropic and unifying forces in America.
In 1946, Dolly Parton was born in a one-room East Tennessee cabin, the fourth of 12 children, and a family that she said and described as, quote, Dirt-poor. Her father never had the chance to learn how to read.
And while a guitar that was gifted to her at the age of seven, by her uncle, sparked her legendary career that we're remembering tonight, it was actually those humble beginnings that led to a lifetime of unending generosity. That includes her founding of The Dollywood Foundation and the Imagination Library, a program that has provided more than 330 million books to preschool-aged kids.
My next guest worked alongside Dolly Parton for years, including on their 1993 Grammy-nominated hit, "Romeo."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON PERFORMS "ROMEO")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Joining me tonight is the country singer and songwriter, Pam Tillis.
And thank you so much for being here.
Because, Melissa and I were just talking. It's bittersweet. You know, it's so great to look back at all these old clips and listen to her music. But I wonder how you're feeling tonight.
PAM TILLIS, COUNTRY MUSIC SINGER: Well, I did my crying earlier today, and I'm sure it's not the last of the tears. I was in the airport in Chicago, and I got the news.
And I think, personally, I'm going to be reflecting for a very long time on how much Dolly brought to the world and her impact, and just continuing to reflect on how high she set the bar in terms of her generosity. Let's talk about that. Everything that you've been, you and Melissa have been talking about. She was important. She was a one- woman empire of love and goodness and art and all things beautiful.
I grew up with Dolly. I'm fortunate to have been -- I'm a baby boomer. So, I was a young girl. Daddy met Dolly when he was just beginning his career, just like Dolly. They were both regulars on "The Porter Wagoner Show."
And as a little girl, I had music in my heart, and I always sang, and we got to go to "The Porter Wagoner Show," and to see a woman -- you know, I was young. I don't know how exactly, I was thinking about it, but I'm like, Wow, this is a girl. She's an older girl -- She wasn't that old when she hit Nashville -- And she's playing her own guitar, she's singing her own songs, and that really blew me away.
I really didn't know -- you know, my daddy wrote songs, and I knew a lot of men songwriters. But I was aware, even as a little girl, it's like, This is a woman doing this, and that made a deep impression on me. And yes, I've always thought of her as a light to look up to.
COLLINS: Yes, yes, I love that you said that because I think that's such a good point in terms of what she meant to so many women and artists.
And I mean, but you mentioned your dad; he's a country music legend himself, Mel Tillis. She actually sent you a letter when he passed.
TILLIS: She did, which blew me away. I mean, she'd met many people through her career, but I do think that she -- you know, Dolly was the kind of person that never (inaudible) and like I said, they came up, they (inaudible) and both of them probably succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They weren't afraid to dream. Dolly was very (inaudible).
I do want to share with you, Kaitlan, that I had seen Dolly in the award shows and in the studio and all. But one of the best shows I ever saw in my life was in Huntsville, Alabama, and I got to see her hold court, Queen Dolly. And she wrapped this entire auditorium of people. Just everybody was connected, and we were connected through Dolly. And she was combination Pinup Girl and Madonna and High Priestess, and she was -- she was spiritual, and she was naughty, and she was -- she was political, you know, in a very cool, subtle, non- judgmental way.
[21:30:00]
She did a little medley of protest songs, and I think that was her way of saying, Hey, people. Continue to think for yourself. Don't take any wooden nickels. You know what I mean? And don't be -- you know, don't be passive. And I loved the way she did that.
But she really -- she lit that place up in a way that I would never forget. And she was just beautiful like that.
COLLINS: What an awesome--
TILLIS: And the singing, of course. We can talk about the singing forever. She came in--
COLLINS: I mean, I can't even imagine--
(CROSSTALK)
TILLIS: She -- oh, it was unbelievable. And also, I got the pleasure of hearing her. She came to my house. I heard Melissa say she -- she came to her house. Dolly came to my house as well and sang on my "Tillis Sings Tillis" record, "It's All Relative," and she sang Daddy's first -- she did a -- she sang with me on a song that had been Daddy's first single for Columbia Records, a song called "The Violet and a Rose."
And when she was learning the parts and just singing out in the room, off the mic, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. It was like, Oh my God. She sounded, just in person, like a record. I mean, like just -- no, better than a record, like an angel.
And I always laugh. I always laugh. We -- she took a few dainty sips out of a little water glass, and she sang her part. She left the studio. And for days and days and days we wouldn't move the water glass because it had little Dolly lip prints on it.
(LAUGHTER)
TILLIS: And we put a little light on it and we put little flowers around it, and we said it was our little shrine to Dolly Parton, and we didn't want to move it.
So, about a week later, I had a housekeeper came in and he said, You want me to take this glass, Pam, and I'd take it down to the kitchen?
I said, No, no, no. Don't touch that. That's Dolly Parton's water glass.
And he said, Oh. He just lost it. He totally lost it. He said, Dolly Parton's water glass? He said, Can I have it?
And I said, What are you going to do with it?
He goes, I'm going to put it with my Elvis Presley pork chop bone.
(LAUGHTER)
TILLIS: So, there you go.
COLLINS: Oh, Pam.
TILLIS: We gave him the water glass.
COLLINS: And I bet he treasured that.
TILLIS: She was -- she was a light. And I have to say one more thing. I think she'd get a kick out of this. Even though we're all so sad, and we're going to be sad for a long time. We're hollow -- Nashville in, the world is not the same without Dolly Parton in it. I'll say that.
But I think she'd get a kick out of something that popped into my head today. Because she had a wicked great sense of humor. But I just was thinking to myself about the importance of Dolly Parton, and I thought to myself, You know, Kaitlan, she put the jugs in juggernaut. An empire. And the world was -- the world will never be the same, I think, without Dolly in it, and I mean that.
COLLINS: I loved your description, spiritual and naughty. Because that is so true. She was so many different things all in one.
Pam, I'm so glad you came on tonight.
TILLIS: She was very deep.
COLLINS: Thank you for telling us. I loved that story about the water glass. I think nobody would have cleaned that water glass had she been in their home.
TILLIS: Thank you.
COLLINS: Thank you, Pam Tillis--
TILLIS: No. No.
COLLINS: --for joining us tonight. Yes.
TILLIS: Thank you.
COLLINS: Oh, what an amazing memory.
And I should note, we're not the only ones remembering Dolly Parton tonight. This is in New York City right now. This is the Empire State Building that has been lit up pink in honor of Dolly Parton. And the tribute started very appropriately at 09:25 p.m. A nod to her starring role in the film of that same name and its chart-topping theme song.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON PERFORMS "9 TO 5")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Up next. Dolly Parton's values were clear in the lyrics that she wrote and the songs that she sang. She accomplished something that very few people can ever do, especially in today's political climate. She was deeply loved on both sides of the aisle. We have more of our special coverage right after this.
[21:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
A. J. HAMMER, AMERICAN TV PERSONALITY: I am sure somewhere in the course of your career, somebody has suggested that you run for president.
PARTON: Yes, right--
HAMMER: Because based on popularity -- no, I'm -- seriously, hasn't somebody along the way says, Dolly, why don't you run for--
PARTON: Yes.
HAMMER: --why don't you run for that White House?
PARTON: But you know what I say? We've had enough boobs in the White House.
HAMMER: Uh-huh.
PARTON: They don't need me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: She was quick, man.
A live look at the White House tonight. The American flag has been lowered to half-staff in honor of Dolly Parton.
And while the Queen of Country Music may not have wanted to become President Parton, her life of philanthropy led to something extremely rare these days: being beloved across the political spectrum.
Tributes from both sides of the aisle poured in today, honoring an American who, as CNN's Tom Forman reports, transcended politics altogether.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON PERFORMS "9 TO 5")
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before the fame, the philanthropy, the dazzling Dolliness of it all, Dolly's songs of working people were everything.
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON PERFORMS "HERE YOU COME AGAIN")
FOREMAN (voice-over): Her lyrics told the tales of their struggles on the job, in the home.
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON PERFORMS "TO DADDY") FOREMAN (voice-over): And of course, in the heart, many of her most memorable tunes, including her greatest commercial hit, were about failed relationships.
[21:40:00]
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON PERFORMS " I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU")
FOREMAN (voice-over): But there was so much more. Songs about jealousy and longing.
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON PERFORMS "JOLENE")
FOREMAN (voice-over): Songs about poverty and pride.
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON PERFORMS "COAT OF MANY COLORS")
FOREMAN (voice-over): Her message could be tough too. When white supremacists rose in the news, she took the name Dixie off an attraction at her amusement park. She supported LGBTQ rights and the Black Lives Matter movement.
PARTON: Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter?
FOREMAN (voice-over): She promoted reading, access to medical care, education. Her career, life, and lyrics were a constant campaign for women's rights.
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON PERFORMS "JUST BECAUSE I'M A WOMAN")
FOREMAN (voice-over): She met Richard Nixon, performed for Jimmy Carter, was honored at the Kennedy Center by George W. Bush, and turned down the Medal of Freedom from both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Through it all, she gently pushed away from any partisan claim to her fame.
PARTON: My joke is that my daddy was a Republican, my mama was a Democrat, and I'm a hypocrite.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Yet, even in tumultuous times, she embraced all who wanted to join her in the kindness and caring of the Dolly Party.
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON PERFORMS "THE GRASS IS BLUE")
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And Tom Foreman is here with me. Alongside Stephen Thompson, who's the host of NPR's "Pop Culture Happy Hour."
And it's so great to have you both here.
I mean, Tom, just to see the tributes today coming into her was incredible.
FOREMAN: Yes. COLLINS: The spectrum that she spanned.
FOREMAN: Oh yes, she's unbelievable.
I played her on the radio on my first radio job in Alabama. Alabama's getting a lot of shoutouts tonight.
COLLINS: As it should.
FOREMAN: In my first job in high school, I was a DJ, and we played her song. And that was right when they were making this big changeover from the pure country, that you know a lot about, to what people referred to as Countrypolitan.
STEPHEN THOMPSON, HOST, NPR'S "POP CULTURE HAPPY HOUR": Sure.
FOREMAN: Kind of city. That's when Olivia Newton-John was winning awards. So was John Denver. Some of the old country crowd, like the outlaw country people, didn't like it.
But Dolly, Queen of Country, comes along, and that's right when she started making a big transition to and becoming a true superstar. And I would argue that her doing that then is the reason we have Taylor Swift today. She couldn't do it if there hadn't been big names like that who could say, We could bridge these worlds, country music with these great stories, and pop music with these great tunes and a sensibility, can all come together.
COLLINS: Yes, and one of the things -- I mean, talking about this span today of people who paid tribute to her from obviously President Trump lowered the flags. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was saying that she is this irreplaceable champion of the working-class. I mean, she is someone who, no matter how famous she got, how successful she was, she never ever forgot where she came from.
THOMPSON: Absolutely. And when I think about all of the things that I'm mourning, when Dolly Parton dies, I'm thinking, immediately, my -- you know, I go to the music. I start thinking about the songs and all the songs that I've loved over the years. I think about the movies I've loved over the years. I think about her as a cultural presence.
But then I start to think about how few people in this country have a 100 percent approval rating. We -- none of us at this table have a 100 percent approval rating in this country.
COLLINS: Yes.
THOMPSON: Mine would be 0 percent, 0 percent. 100 percent? Don't know, not sure.
(LAUGHTER)
THOMPSON: But like, to find somebody who is beloved across the political spectrum and who managed -- managed to--
COLLINS: How did she do that? THOMPSON: I mean, she did it over the course of many, many decades. I think she laid a foundation of being apolitical and doing a lot of work that was not necessarily immediately noticeable as political.
And over time, as I think maybe more was expected of her politically, she found ways. She's a very smart, very quick, very cagey person, found ways to kind of bob and weave. And I think she understood that it's really important in America, and anywhere, to have people who are not necessarily tethered to politics, not necessarily people we're going to argue about, but people we can unite behind.
And as sad as I've been today, I've actually felt this strange sense of national unity in ways that I -- I can imagine it. You probably go long stretches without feeling truly unified--
FOREMAN: Oh, yes.
[21:45:00]
THOMPSON: --as somebody who covers what's going on in this country. But feeling like everyone feels the same way about this person, that's really important. And we don't have very many of those people.
FOREMAN: I think one of the ways that she did it too is years ago, name-dropping, I spent most of the day with Trisha Yearwood, another giant--
COLLINS: Oh, amazing--
(CROSSTALK)
FOREMAN: --giant country figure who knew Dolly, and Trisha said, The secret of country music is it still tells stories. And every one of Dolly's songs is a story, and it's a story of everyone.
THOMPSON: Right.
FOREMAN: And I think that's why people like it. It's not -- it's not just a beat. It's not just a dance tune. It's a story, and I think so many people can relate to it. That's why so many people look today and say, That's me somehow.
THOMPSON: Right.
FOREMAN: You know?
THOMPSON: Well, and it's interesting that you mentioned without Dolly Parton, there's no Taylor Swift. And when I think about her enormous influence, she absolutely has had an enormous influence across the spectrum of country music, but she's also had enormous influence across pop music. And Taylor Swift is just the tip of that iceberg. You get a sense of that mix of storytelling and humor, in an artist--
FOREMAN: Yes.
THOMPSON: --like Sabrina Carpenter, or an artist like Chappell Roan. You know, Chappell Roan kind of draws on some of the camp. You see her influence across the spectrum of popular music.
FOREMAN: Yes. Yes. One of -- interestingly enough, one of her last messages was to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce because, they gave $2 million in July, I think, to the--
COLLINS: Yes.
FOREMAN: --to the book initiative.
COLLINS: Yes, which is, I mean, something incredible on its own.
FOREMAN: Yes, yes.
COLLINS: And that so many parents are thinking about tonight.
It's so great to have both of you here tonight.
FOREMAN: Thank you.
THOMPSON: It's good.
COLLINS: Thank you so much. Tom Foreman. Stephen Thompson.
Up next for us. We're going to have the President of The Recording Academy, reflecting on Dolly Parton's legacy, the one that clearly spanned so much of the music industry. Right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:50:00]
COLLINS: Over the course of Dolly Parton's more than 60-year career, she was nominated for more than 50 Grammy Awards, 10 of which she won, making her the third most nominated woman in Recording Academy history.
I'm joined tonight by the CEO of The Recording Academy, Harvey Mason Jr.
And it is so great to have you on.
Because just looking at the numbers, it was 1979 when she got her first Grammy. She got her last one in 2021. And I think just thinking of that career in and of itself is mind-blowing.
HARVEY MASON JR., CEO, THE RECORDING ACADEMY & MUSICARES: It really is. It's spectacular. Thinking about over the course of 50 years, all the things that she's accomplished, all the people she's touched, the hearts and lives that she's affected, makes me emotional.
It also makes me really happy to see all the clips and all the people celebrating her. And when I see her playing guitar or in an image like this one, it's just beautiful, and it makes me so thankful that we had her with us for a time here on the planet, sharing her art, sharing her talent. COLLINS: Where do you put her when you look at -- I mean, you interact with so many artists and so many legends. When you think of Dolly Parton and just what she meant to music, I wonder what goes through your mind.
MASON JR.: She's had such an impact on so many creative people, so many artists and songwriters, first of all, starting at the, you know, the first level. The way that she's impacted, and your previous guest talked about it, Taylor Swift, or other amazing, talented people that are doing this work and carrying on her legacy, she's had massive influence.
But then you step away from the music and you think about just philanthropically what she's meant to the world, the people that she's given back to, the people she's lifted, and then the joy and audiences through the music.
So, on so many different levels, she's touched so many different lives. And I know she's personally touched me because, I don't know if I've met somebody that emitted the kind of just joy and energy and positivity that she did.
I was just recently with her a year or so ago, and she received an award from the State Department-Recording Academy, you know, PEACE Through Music Act, and she was an amazing diplomat for the world through her music and through her art.
COLLINS: Oh man, what was it like, to see her a year ago?
MASON JR.: It was inspiring because, as I said, she's just so energetic, she's so loving and so positive, and she had a unique way of making people just feel like she cared about them. And she understood you. And you heard that in her music. You heard that when you met her, and she reached out to give you a hug. And she's just a little tiny thing, but she was so sweet and so full of love.
And I understand why her music resonated because, as much as she was bombastic and she had the hair and all the other stuff, when it came right down to it, what caught you off guard is how much you related to her and how much she related to you.
COLLINS: I know. I love whenever she got asked about that, and she would always say, Well, yes, this isn't real, but it's real on the inside. I mean, she would always take those comments on her appearance and brush them off and say, Well, actually, you know, what I hope people really pay attention to is me as a person.
MASON JR.: Well, we absolutely did, and I'm not sure what the inspiration was for all the other things she did as far as the appearance. I know, a lot of times she's been quoted as saying, You thought I was a joke, or I was joking. Well, the joke's on you because what I'm singing, what I'm saying, you're listening and you're receiving that. And that couldn't be more true.
She was so important, so impactful. As I said, affected so many incredible artists that we know and love today. It's a sad day, but it's also a good day to celebrate her and everything that she did.
COLLINS: As we're in a moment where we talk about artists having the rights to their catalogs and to their songs. I wonder how you reflect on the story of, you know, when Elvis Presley offered to sing a song of hers, but wanted to have half the rights, and she said, I don't want to do that, which, I mean, at the time was potentially a big risk for her.
MASON JR.: Was a huge risk. And I'm sure, I'm quite sure, Kaitlan, she didn't say, No, I don't want to do that. She probably filled it with some incredibly sharp and laser-like comment, right to Elvis directors and said, You're not touching my song, and I'm going to continue to own my publishing.
She was an advocate for the rights of creators. She's somebody who stood up for people, across the spectrum of creators. And she's had such an impact on things like you mentioned, people owning their rights, continuing to control the thing -- the equity for songwriters and performers. It is just across the board, and there's nothing that we can do to talk about or put up on a graphic or show an image that will really clearly reflect the impact that she's had, the numbers, the awards, all of it. But it's really the heart and the impact that she's made on so many people.
[21:55:00]
COLLINS: Yes. And it's amazing how just listening to her music, which I've been doing all day. We were doing in the White House booth today. I mean, just, it really, in and of itself, feels like a tribute.
Harvey Mason Jr., it is great to have you on. Thank you for joining us tonight.
MASON JR.: Thanks, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Before we sign off tonight, we are going to take a listen to Dolly Parton and her amazing life, in Dolly's own words. Right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO - DOLLY PARTON & KENNY ROGERS PERFORM "ISLANDS IN THE STREAM")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers on the CMA stage, back in 1983, performing, of course, none other than "Islands in the Stream." The two were later nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year for three consecutive years, from 1984 through 1986.
But as you know, it was not just her music and her lyrics that touched so many people. In interviews, with the BBC in 1978, Dan Rather in 2014, CBS in 2019, Dolly Parton was always open, frank, and generous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARTON: I'm ambitious because I like to have nice things, but I also manage to keep my childhood, my roots, sturdy and deep, and I feel safe in venturing out and trying new and different things. I feel it's my life, and I only have to answer to God and to myself.
I, first of all, believed in my talent. I really believed that I was heading to Nashville with something to sell. I thought my songs were good, and I thought I was, you know, good enough singer that I could pull that off.
I don't work for money, never did. I just wanted -- it was the art, it was the job. I love the work, and I've done well, and I'm thankful for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What would you tell your younger self?
PARTON: Well, that's a tricky question. It was my dream to do it, but I would just probably, looking back, I would just say, Girl, you better buckle up because this is -- you're in for the ride of your life. You're going to have to take a lot of stuff. You're going to have to give a lot of stuff. And you're going to have to, you know, stand by your guns, believe in yourself, stay true to yourself.
If someone did get out of hand, I would know kind of what to say. So, I never slept with anybody to get anywhere. If I slept with somebody, it's because I wanted to, not to try to get ahead in the business. So, I just, with some people, especially with me being overdone and over- exaggerated with the makeup and the hair, and the way I dressed, some people might have thought I was done. But I would have the deal done and gone before they realized what had happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I mean, you cannot help but laugh when you listen to her.
[22:00:00]
If you're like us and remembering Dolly tonight, and you want to support her library that gifts those books to young children. You can go to donate.imaginationlibrary.com and do so.
Thank you so much for joining us as we pay tribute to Dolly Parton tonight.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts now.
