By Dr. Clint W. Kerns, ThD
I had hoped someday to interview Dolly Parton.
As I began building PigeonForgeVisit.com, there were certain interviews that naturally made their way onto my wish list. Attraction owners, entertainers, restaurant owners, people who have helped make Pigeon Forge and the Smoky Mountains what they are today.
But there was one interview that would have stood above all the others.
Dolly.
Today, August 25, 2026, that dream came to an end.
Dolly Parton died peacefully in Nashville at the age of 80, her family announced. At the time of this writing, no cause of death has been publicly disclosed.
The world has lost an extraordinary songwriter, singer, actress, businesswoman and philanthropist.
But here in East Tennessee, we’ve lost something else.
We’ve lost one of our own.
From the Mountains to the World
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born January 19, 1946, in Sevier County, Tennessee, one of twelve children. She grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee before leaving for Nashville after high school and eventually becoming one of the most recognizable entertainers in the world.
Her accomplishments are almost impossible to summarize.
More than 100 million records sold. Eleven Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. Membership in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Movies. Television. Thousands of songs written.
But statistics don’t really explain Dolly Parton.
Songs do.
“Jolene.”
“9 to 5.”
“I Will Always Love You.”
And one that has always been especially meaningful to me:
“Coat of Many Colors.”
Dolly had the ability to take the poverty of her childhood and tell the story without bitterness. She could sing about having very little materially while reminding us that a home filled with love possesses riches money cannot buy.
Maybe that’s one reason so many people connected with her.
She became enormously successful without appearing ashamed of where she came from.
In fact, she brought the world back home with her.
The Woman Who Changed Pigeon Forge
You simply cannot tell the modern story of Pigeon Forge without Dolly Parton.
Dollywood became one of Tennessee’s defining tourist destinations and gave generations of families another reason to come to the Smoky Mountains. But Dolly’s influence extended beyond the gates of the park.
People came to Dollywood.
They stayed in Pigeon Forge.
They ate in its restaurants.
They visited its attractions.
They returned year after year.
And the economic and cultural influence radiated throughout the area.
Yet perhaps one of Dolly’s greatest legacies had nothing to do with entertainment.
Her Imagination Library began in 1995 in her home county, inspired in part by her father, who could not read. The program grew far beyond East Tennessee, providing books to young children and encouraging literacy on an enormous scale.
She made it big.
Then she remembered home.
I Remember Dolly Before Dollywood
My memories of Dolly go back considerably farther than Dollywood.
I can remember watching her sing on The Porter Wagoner Show.
That partnership became an important part of her early career. Years later, when Dolly decided to leave Wagoner’s organization and pursue her solo career, she wrote “I Will Always Love You” as her farewell to him.
I’ve always loved Dolly’s music.
I loved 9 to 5, both the movie and the song. I loved Coat of Many Colors and Christmas of Many Colors.
And I especially loved hearing Dolly perform “I Will Always Love You” in a bluegrass setting.
Through the years, I also became acquainted with several people who knew Dolly personally or professionally.
Arthur Rice, formerly of the Kingdom Heirs, knew her and always spoke highly of her in my conversations with him.
I became acquainted with Gary “Biscuit” Davis, the remarkable banjo player who performed at the preshow of what was then called Dixie Stampede and worked with Dolly professionally.
I’ve also had opportunities through the years to know members of Dolly’s family, including her sister Stella and her late brother Randy.
I never knew Dolly personally.
But our paths did cross.
And twice, it happened when I least expected it.
Well, Look Who Just Walked Out…
About fifteen years ago, we were at Dollywood listening to the Kingdom Heirs at the Showstreet Palace Theatre.
It was an ordinary Dollywood day.
We were there enjoying Southern Gospel music from a group I had heard many times.
And then…
Dolly walked out.
There was no warning to us. Suddenly Dolly Parton herself was standing on the stage.
She even sang a song with the Kingdom Heirs.
For somebody who had watched her on television years earlier, there was something surreal about sitting in Dollywood and unexpectedly watching Dolly Parton walk onto the stage and sing Southern Gospel with the Kingdom Heirs.
But apparently Dolly wasn’t finished surprising us that day.
Later, we went to the Pines Theatre to watch a musical production.
At the end of the production…
there she was again.
Twice in one day.
Neither appearance had been something we went to Dollywood expecting to see.
Those are the kinds of moments you remember.
And Then Dolly Drove In
My other unexpected encounter may be my favorite.
We were near River Rampage one day when security personnel began blocking pathways.
You know what happens at Dollywood when something unusual starts occurring.
People begin talking.
Rumors start circulating.
“Dolly’s here.”
Nobody around us seemed to know exactly what was happening.
Then a large, champagne-colored high-top van came into view.
And guess who was driving?
Dolly Parton.
There she was behind the wheel, driving into her own park and waving at the people gathered along the way.
That alone would have made the story.
Then two other ladies got out.
It didn’t take long to recognize them.
Barbara and Louise Mandrell.
Now that was a Dollywood surprise.
No scheduled meet-and-greet for us. No carefully planned celebrity appearance that we had come specifically to see.
We just happened to be standing there when Dolly drove in with the Mandrell sisters.
I’ve never forgotten it.
More Than an Entertainer
I think one reason Dolly appealed to so many people was that she seemed to retain a connection to ordinary people despite extraordinary fame.
Her childhood wasn’t something she tried to erase from her biography.
It became part of her story.
Her family became part of her story.
The mountains became part of her story.
And faith was part of her story.
Dolly spoke publicly throughout her life about God and the Christian upbringing that shaped her. She once wrote that she felt closest to God while writing and would thank the Lord when inspiration came to her.
And that brings me back to the interview I wanted.
The Questions I Wanted to Ask Dolly
Had I ever gotten the opportunity to interview Dolly for PigeonForgeVisit.com, I certainly would have wanted to talk about Dollywood.
I would have asked what Pigeon Forge looked like through her eyes when she was growing up nearby.
I would have wanted to know what it felt like to watch Dollywood grow into what it became.
I’d have asked about the music, the people of these mountains and the changes she had witnessed during her lifetime.
But eventually the interviewer in me would have given way to the preacher in me.
There were two questions I especially wanted to ask.
“Dolly, would you tell me about your personal salvation experience? When did you personally come to know Jesus Christ as your Saviour?”
And then:
“What is your favorite passage of Scripture, and why?”
I’ve heard and read Dolly speak about Christianity and faith.
But I would have loved to sit across from her, look her in the eye, and simply let her tell me her personal testimony in her own words.
I would have loved to hear her answer that second question, too.
What passage had carried her through difficult nights?
What verse had stayed with her from those childhood days in the mountains?
What Scripture did Dolly Parton turn to when the crowds were gone and she was simply Dolly?
I never got to ask.
A Legacy Bigger Than a Theme Park
It’s tempting on a website called PigeonForgeVisit.com to measure Dolly’s legacy primarily in terms of Dollywood.
But that would be too small.
She certainly changed Pigeon Forge.
Yet her influence reached into music, movies, literacy, philanthropy and countless individual lives.
Her songs gave people words for experiences they couldn’t quite express themselves.
Her success showed children growing up with very little that their beginnings didn’t have to determine their endings.
And her investment in literacy put books into the hands of children who might otherwise never have owned them.
Her nephew Bryan Seaver said today that Dolly’s example made her family believe anything was possible and spoke of the doors she opened throughout her life.
Those doors remain open.
The music remains.
The books remain.
The memories remain.
And Dollywood remains.
Dollywood Will Feel Different
I know the next time I walk into Dollywood, it’s going to feel different.
I’ll still hear the train whistle.
The Kingdom Heirs will still sing.
River Rampage will still get people wet.
The smell of cinnamon bread will still tempt people who swore they weren’t hungry five minutes earlier.
Families will laugh.
Children will ride their first roller coaster.
Christmas lights will come on.
The mountains will still rise behind it all.
Life will continue.
That’s what happens when someone dies.
But somewhere in the back of my mind, I’ll remember the lady who once unexpectedly walked onto the Showstreet Palace stage.
I’ll remember seeing her again at the Pines Theatre later that same day.
And I’ll remember standing near River Rampage when a champagne-colored van came rolling into Dollywood…
with Dolly herself behind the wheel.
The Interview I’ll Never Have
One of my favorite Dolly performances was her bluegrass treatment of “I Will Always Love You.”
Today, even the title feels different.
I never got the interview I hoped someday to have.
I never got to sit across from Dolly Parton and ask about these mountains.
I never got to ask about Dollywood.
I never got to ask about her favorite Scripture.
And I never got to hear her tell me personally about the day she came to know Christ.
But I did get to see her.
I got to hear her sing.
I got to watch her unexpectedly walk onto a Dollywood stage and sing with the Kingdom Heirs.
I got to stand along a Dollywood pathway as she drove into the park, waved to the crowd, and brought Barbara and Louise Mandrell along for the ride.
And for many years, my family and I have made memories at the place that bears her name.
So perhaps I’ll end the interview I never got to conduct with what I would have wanted to say when it was over anyway.
Thank you, Dolly.
Thank you for the music.
Thank you for the laughter.
Thank you for the memories.
Thank you for remembering where you came from.
Thank you for investing in these mountains and their people.
Thank you for giving millions of families another reason to come to Pigeon Forge and make memories together.
And thank you for leaving East Tennessee better than you found it.
The interview will have to remain on my wish list.
But the memories?
I’ll always have those.
Dolly Parton, January 19, 1946 – August 25, 2026.