ATLANTA — Dolly Parton’s death is being felt across the country music world, including in Atlanta, where friends, fans and music scholars are remembering the legendary singer, songwriter, actress and philanthropist.
Parton died Tuesday at age 80 after a battle with cancer.
At The Eagle on Piedmont Avenue, they held a country night featuring a tribute to Parton as fans gathered to celebrate her life and legacy.
Angie Ward, a Country Radio Hall of Famer for 94.9 The Bull, said the news was especially difficult to deliver to her listeners.
“When I broke the news on the air, I burst into tears,” Ward said.
Ward said Parton’s impact went far beyond her music.
“She is so much more than just a singer or a songwriter,” Ward said. “She was a philanthropist. She was a role model to women, doing things that women would never have thought of doing when she first got into the industry.”
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Richard Ramey said he admired Parton long before he had the opportunity to know her personally.
“I respected her so much for how she came from nothing to where she was, you know, today,” Ramey said.
The two eventually became friends after meeting through Parton’s dermatologist.
Ramey said Parton was gracious and appreciative.
“Dolly got a lot of flowers from me, and I never sent her a bouquet or never gave her a gift that I didn’t receive a thank you letter,” Ramey said.
Some of those letters are now displayed on a wall dedicated to Parton in Ramey’s home.
One of his final memories of Parton in Atlanta wasn’t seeing her perform. It was seeing her work as an actress.
Parton’s 2012 movie “Joyful Noise” was filmed throughout the Atlanta area.
“That was one of the last memories I have of her working in Atlanta,” Ramey said.
Joseph Crespino, an Emory University history professor, said Parton’s career crossed generations and genres.
“She was just an extraordinary entertainer,” Crespino said, pointing to her success as a country and pop star and as a movie actress in the 1980s and 1990s.
Crespino said Parton also remained connected to her roots.
“She was Southern, she was Christian, she was country,” he said.
But Parton’s path to stardom was not an easy one.
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Taylor Ackley, Ph.D., a country music scholar who will teach a class on Parton’s impact at Kennesaw State University this fall, said Parton faced significant barriers as a poor Southern woman entering the music industry in the 1960s.
“She established one of very few routes for women to become superstars, particularly writing their own music,” Ackley said.
Parton’s influence also extends to the business side of the music industry.
Her song “I Will Always Love You” became an even bigger hit when Whitney Houston recorded it for the 1992 film “The Bodyguard.”
The song generated millions of dollars in royalties for Parton, which she used to support underserved communities in Nashville, Ackley said.
Georgia State School of Music professor Ben Yonas said the song also provides an important lesson about music ownership.
Yonas said Parton was once pressured to give up some of the song’s publishing rights in connection with a potential recording by Elvis Presley.
She ultimately refused.
“She was an incredible example for artists on the need for artists to retain ownership of their own music,” Yonas said.
Parton’s philanthropy has become another defining part of her legacy.
She created the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which provides free books to children, including those in communities where access to libraries and books can be limited.
Her charitable work also includes education initiatives, scholarship funds and support for wildfire relief in the Smoky Mountains.
Parton also contributed to COVID-19 vaccine research.
For Ackley, that commitment to helping others is part of what made Parton so unique.
“Once she gets the opportunity, she just keeps putting out more good into the world,” Ackley said.
For the fans remembering Parton in Atlanta Tuesday night, that legacy — in music, entertainment, business and philanthropy — is likely to endure for generations.
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