Dolly Parton’s Family Didn’t Get ‘Real Excited’ About Her Concerts
Dolly Parton’s family members did a great deal to champion her career. They helped her on her rise to success and supported her after she achieved success. Still, they grew accustomed to her stardom. Her aunt said that this led them to take her for granted.
Dolly Parton’s family said they got used to her fame
Parton began performing in front of audiences as a child and started recording her music when she was still in school. By the 1970s, she was a star. Through her rise, her family members grew accustomed to knowing a famous musician. It no longer felt like a major deal to see her in concert.
“I know she’s busy, and I don’t push my way around when she’s got fans to see,” her aunt, Estelle Watson, said in the book Dolly by Alanna Nash. “I said, ‘Well, I’ll let the other people see her. I’ll see her in Nashville or something.’”
Watson said that while their pride in Parton never dimmed, her success no longer felt like a novel, exciting thing.
“She’s got a lot of folks besides family and friends in Sevierville,” Watson said. “When she saw us in the audience, she dedicated a song to us, and I guess that was enough. We take her for granted sometimes. She’s like all my other nieces and nephews. We’re proud of her, but we don’t get real excited, I guess ’cause it’s been goin’ on so long.”
One friend said her experience at the shows changed over time
Some of Parton’s friends and family members noticed that her rising fame made for a different experience at her concerts.
“Dolly’s grandfather was in here the other day,” Parton’s friend Ruth Green said. “He asked how I liked Dolly’s last show, and I said I liked it fine, except I didn’t get a chance to reminisce like we used to. He said he didn’t either, The minute she left the stage, she was gone. They had the bus parked where nobody could get at her. Mrs. Parton said nobody got to see Dolly, not even her.”
Still, she didn’t think Parton was behind this decision.
“But I’m sure that wasn’t Dolly. She just wouldn’t allow it,” Green said. “Until she went with this new management, she’d stop and talk, show me through her bus and say she was proud to see you. I don’t know about this management. When you lose a personal relationship with your friends … But, you know, people will still love her. Dolly’s just that kind of person.”
Many of Dolly Parton’s family members are also musicians
Part of the reason Parton didn’t stand out all that much against her family members was that they were all musically talented.
“There’s 12 of us kids, six girls and six boys, and we all sing and write and play,” she told NPR. “It’s just that I think I’ve taken it farther.”
Parton herself admitted she wasn’t any more talented than her siblings. She just had the drive to make a career out of her music.
“I don’t know that I’m near as good as some of the others, but I’ve been more willing to sacrifice and work a little harder than some of the others might have been willing, you know, to do just because they wanted to have a family and do other things,’ she said. “But there’s a lot of talent in this family.”
