It’s widely believed that talent and hard work should equate to success in any given field. However, Grammy award-winning singer, Dolly Parton, has said that talent makes up only one-third of what it takes to become successful in the music industry.
During an interview with Headliners’ podcast, Parton was asked to explain how much percentage talent, fearlessness, and shamelessness make up each when it comes to being successful in music.
“I’m going to have to say a third, a third, a third … You gotta have a backbone. You gotta keep your heart, you gotta keep your soul,” the 76 year old said.
“I’ve often said I’ve never hardened my heart – I just try to toughen the muscles around it. You have to learn to be strong without becoming harsh or hard. I try to never let anybody or anything get to my true heart or get to my true soul.”
During the appearance, Parton explained that while she’s made sacrifices through her career, she’s always been careful to ensure that her morals aren’t compromised.
I’ve sacrificed a great deal, and I was always willing to do that, but I only sacrificed to a point. I would never – I have never compromised to the degree that I lost my integrity, my beliefs, my faith, any of that … I would walk away, I’d never go past that point,” she said.
And despite the ‘Jolene’ singer’s enormous amount of success, she shared that throughout her career she still questioned whether she was good enough.
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“There’s always a certain amount of doubt, a certain amount of fear, but you have to just go ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ You’re just gonna fail, you’re not gonna die.
“I always think, ‘What if I don’t make it? What if I didn’t make it?’ Well, I’d just do something else that I love. I’d be a beautician or I’d be a missionary or I’d do something else.”
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Watch Jolene by Dolly Parton:
