Dolly Parton recently celebrated 50 years as a member of the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night (Oct. 12) with two sold-out performances at the revered Nashville venue.
Ahead of her two 30-minute sets, artists on the bill which included Lady Antebellum, Toby Keith and Candi Carpenter, among others, honoured the country legend by covering some of her most iconic songs.
She recently spoke with Billboard about her six-decades of performing at the iconic American venue. She was just 13 when she first performed on the show, where she was introduced to the stage by Johnny Cash himself.
“That was always my dream and my daddy loved the Grand Ole Opry, so we’d listen to it back home [with] me dreaming of being on it,” she recalled. “The night that I actually became a member 50 years ago was one of the highlights of my whole life because it was a true dream of mine… You never know what’s going to happen to you in your life. You never know if your dreams will come true. And if they do, you wonder how people will remember you when you’re older. I’m older and I’m seeing how people remember me and that makes me feel very humble and I’m just very honoured that I’m still around.”
Throughout the press conference as well as her concerts, Parton marvelled at her 50 years as an Opry member while bestowing her wisdom and humour on those in attendance. “I have been so fortunate to see so many of my dreams come true and I don’t take any of it for granted,” she told Billboard. “As I often say, I count my blessings a lot more than I count my money.”
“I have so many memories, even as a child, watching the people backstage and standing out there on that stage where all the great people stood, thinking maybe someday I can be part of it,” she added. “Now that I’ve been fortunate enough to see that dream come true, I wonder if some little kid might be saying, ‘I bet Dolly Parton stood right here’ when I used to think, ‘I’m standing where Kitty Wells stood.’ So that’s what makes you thankful, that’s what makes you grateful. It’s really a humbling experience.”
When asked how she decided on the songs to perform during her set, Parton joked that she’ll be “doing the ones that people would kill me if I didn’t sing.” Those songs included ‘Jolene,’ ‘Coat of Many Colors,’ ‘9 to 5,’ and “I Will Always Love You,” as well as other earlier hits like ‘Joshua’.
“I’ve been writing songs since I was a little ole bitty thing,” she told the audience. “We didn’t have television and we didn’t get to go to the movies, so I’d write stories and paint pictures and then I’d sing them for my whole family, and we felt like we were going to the movies. Some of them are true, some of them are false and some of them are based on a thread of truth.”
“I have so many people to thank and some of those people are the fans who have stood by me all these years. I moved here in 1964 and became a member of the Opry a few years later. Of course, it has been a wonderful life for me, and this song sums up how I feel about you. Thank you so much and I will always love you,” she said before closing the show with the poignant “I Will Always Love You” to a standing ovation.
“This world is just so dark and ugly and awful… so I’m going to make it my business to try to do songs that are more uplifting, not all Christian-based songs, but songs about better things. Do better, and have a little more love, a little more light and don’t be so dark and dirty,” the MusiCares person of the year conceded.
