Gracing stages since she was 10, Dolly Parton packed her bags and moved to Nashville the day after graduating high school to pursue her dream of being a country music star.
Nearly 60 years after releasing her debut studio album, “Hello, I’m Dolly,” the 79-year-old singer-songwriter says she has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.
“I don’t even know what that word means, right? I really don’t. I can’t even imagine, like, I could say I’m going to retire, but I wouldn’t,” said Parton.
Parton has released more than 60 records since making her 1967 debut, from “Coat of Many Colors” (1971) and “Jolene” (1974) to “Here You Come Again” (1977) and “9 to 5 and Odd Jobs” (1980).
Her storied musical repertoire earned her the Guinness World Record for the most studio albums released by a female country singer in May 2023.
Decades later—and with a forthcoming limited residency in Las Vegas planned for later this year—Parton still manages to breathe fresh inspiration into her music career.
“I always say I wake up with new dreams every day,” she told Kardashian.
“I just love what I do—I just love that I can write songs, I just love that I can sing, I just love that I can go out on stage and make people happy. I love that I have that gift that I feel like is a God-given gift. There are many people more talented, but I’m going to make the most of what I got. So, I just see a new chance every day. So, I just go for it.”
There are, however, some songs that Parton has left unwritten after losing her longtime husband, Carl Dean, who died in March at the age of 82.
“Several things I’ve wanted to start, but I can’t do it,” Parton said. “I will later, but I’m just coming up with such wonderful, beautiful ideas, but I think I won’t finish it. I can’t do it right now because ... I can’t afford the luxury of getting that emotional right now.”
Parton met Dean in 1964 when she was 18; they married two years later. Days after Dean’s death, Parton released a moving ballad, “If You Hadn’t Been There,” in his memory.
