Letters from an American
· collected 2026-08-27 · by Heather Cox Richardson
commentary
Dolly Rebecca Parton, born January 19, 1946, in Sevier County, Tennessee, had numerous landmarks across the US lit up pink in her honor on August 26. The Empire State Building in New York City, Willis Tower in Chicago, and several bridges in cities such as Boston, Milwaukee, and Nashville were among those illuminated in pink. Parton's career spanned over five decades, during which she wrote songs made famous by artists including Kenny Rogers, Whitney Houston, and Tina Turner. The tribute to Parton was a celebration of her life and legacy, noting her rise from humble beginnings as the daughter of an illiterate sharecropper to becoming one of country music's most iconic figures.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-27,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Last night, at exactly 9:25—9 to 5—the top of the Empire State Building in New York City lit up pink.
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top → light → pink
The antennas of Chicago’s Willis Tower—formerly the Sears Tower—lit up pink, too.
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antennas → light → Tower
So did the Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier, which also sported a giant pink heart.
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which → do → heart
The Hoan Bridge in Milwaukee; Reunion Tower and other buildings in the Dallas skyline; and the Longfellow, Burns, Fore River, Braga, and Zakim bridges of Boston; Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans; and, of course, Nashville’s KVB Bridge and historic Metro Courthouse were all lit up in pink last night.
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Bridge → light → pink
The Arthur Ashe Stadium played “Jolene” during the U.S. Open.
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Stadium → play → Open
Jack White played Jolene in London.
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White → play → London
Elsewhere in London, the Buckingham Palace band played “9 to 5.”
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band → play → 5
Dolly Rebecca Parton was the fourth of twelve children born to illiterate sharecropper Robert Lee Parton Sr. and Avie Lee Caroline Owens.
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Parton → bear → .
A musical prodigy encouraged by her mother, Dolly was singing on local radio and television shows in Nashville by the time she was 10 and debuted at the Grand Ole Opry when she was 13.
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she → encourage → Opry
In 1964 she moved to Nashville, where other musicians quickly recognized her talent as a songwriter.
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musicians → move → songwriter
Over her career, she would write songs made famous by Kenny Rogers, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, and others.
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she → write → Rogers
In 1965, Parton made her first record, and the following year she married asphalt paver Carl Dean, who stayed out of the limelight during their 59-year marriage.
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who → make → marriage
Following the success of Parton’s first record, country music star Porter Wagoner invited her to become part of his show in 1967.
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Wagoner → follow → 1967
There she blossomed, joining Wagoner to record a dozen studio albums that produced a number of top 10 hit singles.
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that → blossom → singles
Playing off Wagoner’s famous rhinestone-studded suits made by Ukrainian-American designer Nudie Cohn, the petite Parton adopted huge hairstyles and emphasized her figure, and soon began wearing rhinestones herself.
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Parton → play → rhinestones
She once told a journalist that she modeled her public image after a woman others called the “town tramp” but whom she saw as a glamorous contrast to the women in Parton’s own life.
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she → tell → life
“She had bright red lipstick, long red fingernails.
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She → have → lipstick
She had high-heeled shoes, little floating plastic goldfish in the heels of them, short skirts, low-cut tops, and I just thought she was beautiful.
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she → have → them
When people would say, ‘She ain’t nothing but trash,’ I would always say, ‘Well, that’s what I’m gonna be when I grow up.’”
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I → say → what
But, in an industry dominated by men, Parton also noted her style was a way for a small woman to “fill my space.”
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woman → dominate → space
By the 1970s, Parton was coming into her own, taking on the music industry on her own terms.
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Parton → come → terms
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.
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you → find → purpose
And do it with purpose,” Parton was famous for saying.
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Parton → do → purpose
It ain’t worth it.”
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It → ai → ?
Rather than running from her upbringing in rural poverty, Parton embraced the values that upbringing had inspired in her.
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upbringing → run → her
In 1971 she hit #1 on the country charts with her song “Joshua,” inspired by the Appalachian men around whom she had grown up whose rough looks covered their quality.
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looks → hit → quality
In the same year, her “Coat of Many Colors” reached #4, telling the story of how her mother had made her a coat of rags, rich with love.
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her → reach → love
Those who valued possessions over love, she sang, were the ones truly impoverished.
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she → value → love
In 1972 she wrote “My Tennessee Mountain Home,” about the peace and humanity of rural life, “walking home from church on Sunday with the one you love, just laughing, talking, making future plans.”
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you → write → plans
She parted ways with Wagoner in 1974, and her farewell song to him, “I Will Always Love You,” became a global sensation that reached #1 on the country charts in 1974, 1982, and again in 1992, when it spent 14 weeks at #1 after Whitney Houston covered it.
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Houston → part → it
In 1974, Parton also delivered “Jolene,” the desperate plea of a woman to a beautiful rival not to “take my man.”
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Parton → deliver → man
“Jolene,” too, hit #1 on the country charts.
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Jolene → hit → charts
In 1975 and 1976 the Country Music Association named Parton Female Vocalist of the Year, and in 1978 it honored her as Entertainer of the Year, just three of the many awards she would win as her musical career took off not just at home but also internationally.
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career → name → home
In 1976, Parton began working with manager Sandy Gallin, and in 1980 she launched her film career, starring with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in 9 to 5, a comedy with a subversive subtext about discrimination against women.
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she → begin → women
In the film, for which Parton wrote the theme song, three working women replace their sexist, domineering boss and implement programs their colleagues like, including equal pay, flexible hours, and an on-site daycare center, all of which result in dramatically improved office productivity.
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all → write → productivity
A massive success at the box office, 9 to 5 opened doors for Parton in the movie industry, leading to parts in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias, and other films.
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5 → open → Texas
She and Gallin created a production company, Sandollar, which produced her television specials and the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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which → create → specials
For almost sixty years, Parton was a member of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, a labor union that represents about 70,000 singers and players and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
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that → represent → CIO
She joined the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) in 1969.
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She → join → 1969
AFM International president Tino Gagliardi told John Nichols of The Nation: “Before she was an icon, Dolly was a working musician.
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Dolly → tell → Nation
…and 43 more, not listed.
