Remembering Dolly Parton, Beloved ‘Songteller’
National Catholic Register, 27 August 2026
The long life of the famed entertainer, who died Aug. 25, was mostly about what united, not what divided.
Dolly Parton gave one last gift to her many fans and admirers upon her death this week at age 80. In a time of corrosive political polarization, she was mourned by those who otherwise delight in disagreeing disagreeably.
In 2019, The New York Times headlined a story on Dolly’s appeal: “Is There Anything We Can All Agree On? Yes: Dolly Parton.” This week, it updated its reporting with polling data: “Dolly Parton Was Someone We Could All Agree On. Even in Polls.”
Why was Dolly so beloved? Over the course of a six-decade career, she was principally a songwriter — her publishing catalog contains more than 3,000 songs. She told stories in her songs, stories of faith and friendship in the face of adversity, told with a certain femininity, both delicate and determined. And she decided to stay out of politics, both for commercial reasons — customers have diverging politics — and because politics ought not be primary in a healthy culture, and songwriters care for the culture.
She called herself a “songteller,” the title of Dolly’s 2020 book, Songteller, relating her “life in lyrics.”
“I know that there are many songwriters in this world who are much greater than I am,” writes Dolly. “But I know for a fact that no writer in this world enjoys it more than me.”
Dolly wrote constantly, with whatever was at hand. She wrote one of the great Christian country music songs, Coat of Many Colors, on the back of a dry-cleaning receipt.
Growing up dirt poor in the East Tennessee hollers, her first dresses were made from flour sacks. One winter, needing a coat, Dolly’s mother sewed her one from a box of rags that the family had been given.
There were rags of many colors Every piece was small And I didn’t have a coat And it was way down in the fall
Mama sewed the rags together Sewin’ every piece with love She made my coat of many colors That I was so proud of
As she sewed, she told a story From the Bible, she had read About a coat of many colors Joseph wore and then she said Perhaps this coat will bring you Good luck and happiness
And I just couldn’t wait to wear it And mama blessed it with a kiss.
Dolly’s schoolmates ridiculed her for wearing a coat made from rags. Dolly already knew that she was poor, but she also knew what her classmates didn’t, that her family and her mother’s faith made her rich, because of the love “mama sewed in every stitch.” Young Dolly told her tormentors about the Bible story, too, “how my coat of many colors was worth more than all their clothes.”
Dolly’s ease in sharing her faith made her especially popular with Christian audiences, even though some issues, like her advocacy for same-sex civil marriage, put her at odds with many of her fans.
Dolly led, though, with what united, not what divided. A recurring theme is that suffering is more easily borne with the solidarity of others, within the bonds of family and friends. Indeed, her two major movies, 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias, were about strong female friendships in the face of discrimination and hardship.
Her most successful song, I Will Always Love You — three times No. 1 on the charts, the third time with Whitney Houston’s monster hit version — was not about a romantic relationship. She wrote it about the end of her professional friendship with Porter Wagoner, her Nashville mentor, host of the most popular country music TV show in the 1970s. He had chosen Dolly to sing regularly on his show — her big break. Eventually, Dolly decided to go solo, and wrote a song to explain her decision. The song is full of gratitude for a friendship and good wishes for the friend.
“I hope life treats you kind,” Dolly wrote. “And I hope you have all you’ve dreamed of / And I wish you joy and happiness / But above all this, I wish you love.”
Dolly got up as early as 3 a.m., working in the “wee hours of wisdom” on her songs and her business, as she became one of the leading women entrepreneurs of her generation.
“I just go into my ‘God space,’” Dolly explained. “Most songwriters have a zone that they go into. I call it my spiritual zone. I feel like I am closest to God when I write. … A great line will come to me, and I’ll go, ‘Hey, thank you, Lord. I know that I didn’t think of that.’”
Another word for the “God space” is “inspiration,” an easy concept for Christians. Yet others, too, sensed something more in Dolly.
“In Dallas for the premiere of 9 to 5, I had an uncanny experience,” wrote famed movie critic Roger Ebert in his memoirs. “On the plane home to Chicago I confessed it to Gene Siskel,” a fellow film critic and co-host of their television show, At the Movies.
“I had been granted a private half hour with Dolly Parton, and as we spoke I was filled with a strange ethereal grace. This was not spiritual, nor was it sexual. It was healing and comforting. Gene listened and said, ‘Roger, I felt the exact same thing during my interview with her.’ We looked at each other. What did this mean? Neither one of us ever felt that feeling again. From time to time we would refer to it in wonder.”
Siskel and Ebert had met countless stars, but they sensed in Dolly something singular. Singular but widely shared, for legions of Dolly’s fans felt something, too.
In part it was her kindness, transparent in her songs, her stage presence, and her remarkable philanthropy.
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