It's been true for a while that the "icon" designation is assigned to artists far too often, almost to the point of having lost any tangible meaning. But there was always Dolly Parton, the undisputed embodiment of iconicity — the big blonde wigs, giant smile, lilting Southern twang, glitz and glamour for days — who nevertheless seemed relatable, or at the very least, accessible to the masses. The singer-songwriter, actress, and philanthropist died Tuesday at 80, and while it's strange to now be living in a Dolly-less world, thank goodness for everything she's left us.
Parton's contributions range from her career-opening rebuke of the "dumb blonde" caricature to the beloved workplace comedy 9 to 5 to the invaluable Imagination Library. This week, NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour team is highlighting a few of our personal favorite Dolly nuggets — these may not be the most significant moments in her career, and maybe they aren't even what you'd consider deep cuts. They're beloved performances, integral to her legacy all the same.
"Bury Me Beneath the Willow" with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt on Dolly (1976)
Dolly was a towering songwriting talent, but she was also a towering interpreter of other songs — and that includes a lot of her hits. In the '80s, when I was falling in love with country music for the very first time, she had a song called "Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That?" That is one of the most quintessentially campy Dolly Parton songs imaginable. But she didn't write it — she was an incredible interpreter of other people's words.
The performance that I'm revisiting this week, which has been going around in the aftermath of her death, is from her 1976 variety show, Dolly. It's in her classic Trio setting with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, singing "Bury Me Beneath the Willow."
You hear in her voice, she is a spiritual heir to the Carter family. She is able to embody that work, embody that spirit. But there's still this twinkle in her eye. There's still, at one point, this knowing smile. There's the breadth of her humor and her emotional availability to the song. All three of these women were and are wonderful. And their voices just blended in this totally timeless and spectacular way. — Stephen Thompson
"Everyday People" duet with Kermit the Frog on Dolly (1987)
I was kind of surprised to realize this week that Dolly Parton somehow never actually appeared on The Muppet Show. I thought she had. Why wouldn't she? And then I remembered — the clip that I love is actually her performing with a muppet on her own variety show, Dolly. (This version was in the '80s.) Dolly performs "Everyday People" by The Sly and the Family Stone, with Kermit, performed by Jim Henson.
I don't need to overanalyze this. The Muppets never fail to make me happy, and Dolly never failed to make me happy. This is just a perfect encapsulation of that. — Aisha Harris
"Hard Candy Christmas" from Bob Hope's Jolly Christmas Show (1988)
The song "Hard Candy Christmas" was written for the show The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas by songwriter Carol Hall. Dolly performed it in the 1982 movie version. She released it as a single, and then she performed it on Bob Hope's Jolly Christmas Show. Now, kids, ask your grandparents about the Bob Hope specials — we don't have time to go into it here. They were this kind of schticky comedy that felt dated upon arrival — it aired and it felt like a dinosaur.
In this specific performance on this specific Bob Hope special from 1988, Dolly does not perform this song in front of an audience, which might seem a little odd. She performs it — and we're adults, we can admit that she lip syncs it — in a very odd, kind of music video scenario. She is in this weird atrium at the top of several flights of stairs, which she proceeds to walk down very thoughtfully. I think it's maybe a soulless "I love the eighties" office building. It's all taupe and chrome and gold. It's decked out for Christmas in the glitziest, tackiest, cheapest decorations with tinsel and lights. It's also perfect.
The reason it works is because it matches the singer so well. Dolly Parton prided herself on looking glitzy, shiny, and tacky. When she talked about the kind of women that she emulated when she was a kid, she called them trashy and trampy. The people who did not get Dolly Parton did not realize how everything about her look was a choice — it was considered, it was a deliberate statement. She was rejecting the notion that she grew up with — that piety and sanctimoniousness and moralizing were the hallmarks of a good person. She firmly believed that we left judgment to God — that it wasn't something humans should be wasting our time on. And so much of who she was, and why she was so beloved, flows from that. Her charity work, her support of queer and trans folks, or work with child literacy, it all comes from this idea that we focus on making this world better. The next one is not up to us. — Glen Weldon
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