Thanksgiving just got way cooler, thanks to Dolly Parton!
Fresh off her new album "Rockstar," the country icon totally owned the stage at AT&T Stadium
in Arlington, Texas.
Sporting a Cowboys-inspired cheerleader getup with white and blue stars, bedazzled midriff,
and all that jazz, she put on one heck of a show.
Parton kicked off with "Jolene," then rolled into the classic "9 to 5," and even smashed
Queen's "We Are the Champions."
However, Dolly Parton wasn't always a star.
The singer grew up in poverty, having to take care of her siblings and enduring tough conditions.
But Dolly's harsh childhood didn't discourage her, it only inspired her to stand up for
what she believes in all while chasing her life's dream: music.
Dolly Parton was born in a 12-sibling family in the Appalachian Mountains.
The people in the area were very humble, so much so that they could not pay their doctor
with money.
When the singer was born, her father paid the doctor who helped deliver her with a sack
of cornmeal.
Parton has joked about the situation in interviews, saying, "I've been raking in the dough ever
since."
Dolly's two-room home was too small for fourteen people, so up to three or four children had
to sleep in the same bed every night.
Parton revealed that the younger children used to wet themselves at night.
However, she didn't change the sheets because "that was the only warm thing we knew in the
winter time."
During the winter, the family also had to wash themselves using a water-filled pan.
In the summer, they washed in the river using handmade soap.
Being part of such a big family meant that the eldest kids, like Dolly, had to take care
of their younger siblings.
"My mother, through the years, when we were born, since there were so many of us, used
to say, 'This one's gonna be your baby," she revealed years later.
"That just meant that you got to take extra care of it."
Dolly's "baby" tragically passed away as a newborn when the musician was only nine years
old.
"There is a lot of heartache and stuff that goes on with that," Parton confessed.
The singer's family stayed united during these hard times.
In fact, they were the ones who made Dolly discover her love of music.
Her mother was a singer and several of her siblings also made music.
Parton's uncle, Bill Owens, bought her a guitar and taught her to play.
He also took young Dolly to sing at different places, since he saw that she was very serious
about music.
Parton would sing to the chickens, pigs and dogs in her house and imagined being out in
a bigger world.
At only 13, Dolly performed in the Grand Ole Opry, a weekly concert set in Nashville.
This concert is a huge event in the country world, so Parton felt absolutely delighted.
After graduating from high school, Dolly decided to go to Nashville to make a career in country
music.
During Parton's graduation, she and her classmates made little speeches talking about the future.
When it was Dolly's turn, she got up and said, "I'm going to Nashville to be a star."
Her mates laughed, which embarrassed the singer.
Years later, she understood that "that was just a big dream for a little kid."
In 1964, she met her future husband, Carl Dean, outside a laundromat.
The two married when the singer was only 20 years old.
They went against the wishes of Parton's record label, which thought that being married would
disrupt Dolly's career.
The ceremony included only Dolly, her mother, and Carl.
The singer wore a white dress made by her mother.
Today, Parton is still with her husband.
"Not everyone is lucky enough to be with someone for 50 years, but I have been.
He has been the love of my life and the life of my love," she told People Magazine.
As worried as Parton's record label was, the musician's career continued growing.
Dolly started garnering attention as a songwriter after a couple of songs she composed became
top-ten hits.
In 1967, the musician joined a television series called The Porter Wagoner Show, where
she became an audience favorite.
The singer's first solo number 1 hit was her song "Joshua".
After this, there were several other hits like "Jolene" or "I will Always Love You,"
which is her farewell to the Porter Wagoner Show.
Parton also reflected on her childhood through her music.
An example is her song "Coat of Many Colors," which talks about a true story.
Dolly's mother made her a ragged patchwork coat when she was a child.
When she wore it to school, the singer's classmates made fun of her.
Parton's career had finally launched, and she was on her way to becoming a country legend.
However, not everything was easy for the star.
In one of the interviews featured in the book "Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters
with Dolly Parton," the singer revealed that she once suffered from severe depression.
In 1982, Dolly canceled her tour due to abdominal pain and bleeding.
Two years later, she had a procedure which made her unable to have children.
Parton had an open marriage and was also struggling due to a breakup with a person she was seeing
at the time.
This period was so dark that Parton even contemplated suicide.
One day, Dolly picked up a small handgun she owned and looked at it for a long time.
Suddenly, her dog came running up the stairs.
At that moment, Dolly had a revelation.
"I put the gun down.
Then I prayed," Parton said.
She confessed that she thought her dog's intervention had been a message from God.
"I think it probably was God's plan for me not to have kids, so everybody's kids could
be mine.
And they are now."
Being an established musician, Parton decided to use her stardom for a good cause: opening
a theme park in her hometown to attract tourism and create employment.
At this time, there was already a theme park in the area called Silver Dollar City.
The owners decided they didn't want to compete with the singer and suggested a partnership,
to which she agreed.
The theme park was rebranded and reopened as "Dollywood" in 1986.
The park is a tribute to the heritage, culture, and history of the Smoky Mountains, where
Dolly is from.
Several of the attractions also celebrate the singer's life and career.
Guests can visit her tour bus and even a replica of Parton's childhood home.
In 2021, Forbes Magazine named Dollywood one of the best employers in America, confirming
that Dolly had achieved her goal.
The singer's philanthropy didn't stop with her theme park.
In 1988, she started a foundation to help educate children in her home region.
The foundation turned into "the Imagination Library," a program that distributes free
books to children in several countries until they begin their first year of school.
Dolly started "The Imagination Library" as a way to honor her father, who was never able
to read or write.
Parton's father helped her establish the foundation.
Parton also dedicated herself to reducing the high school dropout rate in her home county.
The star asked seventh and eighth-grade students to "buddy up" with a partner.
If they both successfully graduated from high school, they would get 500 dollars in cash.
Thanks to this program, the high school's dropout rate went from 35 to 6 per cent.
Dolly also created a scholarship which provided 15 thousand dollars to each recipient so that
they can pursue a college education.
After a fire devastated her hometown in 2016, Parton created the "My People's Fund," which
gave money to families affected by the fire for six months.
Parton has also raised money for her hometown's hospital through a benefit concert.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the musician donated 1 million dollars to help fund vaccine
research.
Dolly has also stood up for LGBTQIA+ and Women's rights throughout her life and career.
"I've struggled enough in my life to be appreciated and understood.
I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love,"
she told Billboard Magazine.
Throughout her life, Parton has stayed true to her values and who she is without forgetting
where she comes from.
"The whole magic about me is that I look artificial but I'm totally real," Dolly told USA Today.
"People see me.
I want them to know me."
Dolly is an example for anyone who wants to use their struggles as inspiration to help
others.
Here at Rumour Juice, we hope to enjoy the singer's music and philanthropy for many more
years.