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With one of the longest careers in country music today, Dolly Parton shows no signs of slowing down. The singer/songwriter began seriously writing tunes when she was 7 years old and told Larry King she's probably written more than 3,000 songs. The 64-year-old entertainer also has appeared in several movies, starting in 1980 with "Nine to Five," in which she played a secretary. She also wrote the movie's title song, "Nine to Five."
On Saturday she will celebrate 25 years of Dollywood, her amusement and entertainment park in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, with a Hallmark Channel special at 8 p.m. Among the guests will be Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus and Kenny Rogers. Ms. Parton and her husband, Carl Dean, recently celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary.
Of all the places you could invest your money, why Dollywood?
See the It was a dream of mine early on to do something special for my family, my family name and to just do something wonderful in that part of the country. I love the Smoky Mountains. I knew it would provide tons of jobs for not only my family, but for lots of the folks around there. It has been a joy, and I cannot believe it's been 25 years!
Would you say having to fight for attention as one of 12 children in your family has served you well?
I think it has. I mean, you don't really realize all those things that go on in your life until you're older and you reflect and you wonder how and why you are. But, yes, I had a sister and two brothers older, and there's eight children younger than me. I was the kind of kid that really needed a lot of attention. I needed to be seen. I started out early playing and singing and getting attention. The more attention I got, the more I fed the monkey. So I've spent a whole lifetime trying to be seen, I guess.
How did your success affect your family?
Well, it's always hard when you don't have any money, and when you get to be the only one that does. It's like you want to help, but you really realize it's a big burden. I never think of myself as a star. I feel like I'm a working girl, that I've got a family to feed. It's a big responsibility. But I'm thankful that I have a place like Dollywood, where I can actually provide jobs for a lot of my own family, as well as a lot of friends and people in the area that I grew up knowing.
If you had to do it all over again would you marry so young?
Oh, sure! I would marry my husband -- it was meant to be. I met him the very first day I moved to Nashville, and I married him exactly two years later. So I would have married him if I met him when I was 15. For me, it worked out really well because I was very mature for my age. I felt like I was totally ready. I had not planned to get married when I moved to Nashville. That's the last thing I would have thought I would ever do. It was like God said, "OK, here's the person that you're going to be with, and this person is going to be good for you, good to you. You're going to be happy, and you're going to make him happy." He was very supportive of me, and he loved me before I became a famous star, so I know I never have to worry or think about that.
So you were never tempted to have an affair?
I didn't say that! [laughing] Of course, I'm a very passionate, you know, a live human being. I see lots of good-looking men. Even to this day. I've always been a flirt and a tease, but I've never seen or met the one who would ever take the place of my husband.
What fueled your ambition? Was it the financial security or the recognition?
It was really more about the art than anything, I think. I had my songs, and I had a lot of 'em. I loved to sing, and I saw early on that I was gonna love the attention, and that I loved to travel and I wanted to see the world. I never had any doubts that this is what I was supposed to be doing, unlike some people who aren't certain. It's a way of life with me. It's who I am.
So there's no second-guessing once you've made a decision?
That's true even if it doesn't turn out the way I'd hoped. I don't second-guess it because I pray about every decision, and I sincerely ask God. I just always ask for guidance. I try to go outside myself or, certainly, to my higher self and ask for the proper directions. I really, really pray about things. I really, really listen. I know when I get that gut feeling about a thing that that was meant to be.
You wrote "I Will Always Love You" (which Whitney Houston resurrected) from your heart.
Oh, I did. I was involved with another show before I went out on my own. I was the girl singer in the "Porter Wagoner Show." He gave me my first really big break in the big public. We had one of those love/hate relationships, you know? We fought a lot, but we had a lot of success. When I finally did decide I really needed to go, he was having a hard time, and he was giving me a hard time. I thought, "He's not going to listen to anything I say." I didn't want to spend my life as just the girl singer in somebody else's show. So I wrote that song out of a real broken heart. I was just so sorry I couldn't leave on good terms. When I wrote the song, I took it in and sang it to him, and he just started to cry and said, "OK, you can go, providing I get to produce that song." It was my parting song, and it really came from a deep and sincere place.
Are songs easiest to write when they come from the heart?
Not always, but they are the most meaningful to you. That one was very simple, but it was very involved and so heartfelt. I'm such a skilled writer. I've been doing it so long that I can write something quickly that is meaningful if somebody asks me to do something. But it's when I really put my heart in it, I think there's a magical thing that other people hear and feel. I do believe people sincerely feel true emotion. Don't you?
There is a story in your head when you write a song the first time, but it changes over the years as the characters in your life change.
Yeah, it does. I've applied that song to different people through the years. Even if I'm not experiencing something myself I am so close with my family and friends, like when my sister was going through a divorce. She was just so broken up and I was. It might as well have happened to me because to see her so sad, I was just killed.
Would you call yourself sentimental?
Oh, extremely. Oh, extremely. I'm a sap.
Are you writing your life story?
Yes, I am, actually. I'm writing my life story as a musical. I'm excited about that.
Do you feel you sacrificed any part of yourself to reach your goals?
I think you do. In fact, I just wrote a song called "Sacrifice," and it's like you sacrifice time with family and friends. You sacrifice pleasures for days without end, and you still wonder if it's worth the sacrifice. One of the lines is, "But I was gonna be rich no matter how much it cost me, and I was gonna win no matter how much I lost, and all through the years I've kept my eye on the prize and you ask if it's worth the sacrifice? Yes, it's worth the sacrifice." So it talks about that whole thing. I've analyzed that, and it's one of my really good songs. It's never been out yet, but anyway, it's about that. Yes, to answer your original question, I've sacrificed a lot, but I don't regret it. I would do it all again.
Mackenzie Carpenter's video program, "Omnivore," is available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
