Dolly Parton Opens Up to Zac Brown About Faith, Calling, and Why Her Story Isn’t Finished. ML

Zac Brown and Dolly Parton, photographed by Tyler Lord.

Two breeds of country music royalty walk into the studio: one’s been “chasing butterflies” since the Smoky Mountains, the other rose from bar gigs to stadiums on grit, harmony, and a fried-chicken hook. On “Butterfly,” a duet off Zac Brown Band’s new album Love & Fear, Tennessee-born national treasure Dolly Parton, now 79 and energetic as ever, joins three-time Grammy Award winner Zac Brown in a belt-along paean to faith and heartbreak. “I was just completely blown away,” Brown told Parton on a Zoom last month when the two reflected on their studio session. “I had chills down my toenails, which is hard to do.” As the Backwoods Barbie returned to full health after a kidney-stone related infection earlier this fall, she gave Brown a call to share some of her hard-earned wisdom. “The more successful I get,” she exclaimed, “the more humble I become.”—OLAMIDE OYENUSI

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DOLLY PARTON: Well, hello there.

ZAC BROWN: Hey, darling. So good to see you.

PARTON: I’m happy we’re getting to do something together. I’ve been hearing everybody talk about our “Butterfly” song. It’s a great record.

BROWN: It is, and you absolutely killed it. Thank you so much.

PARTON: How’re you doing?

BROWN: I’m doing great. I’m just glad that we have time to catch up and talk. It was a dream for me to get to do a song with you, but I wanted to have something worthy of it. I remember sending you a few songs, and we had “Butterfly” finished, and I know it symbolises a lot of things in your journey as well. And then when we sent you the song, you got back to me and told me that you loved it. And then you went in the studio and sang on it. I was just completely blown away. I had chills down my toenails, which is hard to do.

PARTON: Well, I had to do it good for you, Zac. That’s why I kept waiting for you. I thought, “Well, I want to get something I can really do good on, where I can really have a good range and be able to hit some of them Dolly licks that I like to do.” That one I thought was such a beautiful melody. I loved the story. I loved what it was about. And butterflies, as you mentioned, they’re kind of my symbol. I’ve always been chasing butterflies one place or another, but when I heard that one I thought, “Well, that’s my little cue.” And I really think it turned out great. It’s a great record.

BROWN: Yeah, thank you. When I was writing it, I was thinking about my kids. They’re kind of in a bubble when they’re at home, and they don’t really know what real struggle looks like yet, but it’s coming as they’re hopping out of the nest, one after the other. And I know that you’ve been through so much these last few months, I can’t even imagine. But I wanted something that put some hope into the world and gave people a little bit of guidance to just hold on until those storms pass. Because life, to me, it’s a series of storms. But it’s how you handle walking through that storm that determines your quality of life, whether or not you’re happy. If you allow everything to constantly steal your joy, then you don’t have a whole lot to give. So that was the sentiment of the song, and I’m so grateful. I mean, it couldn’t have turned out any better. It’s a dream to have you on a song.

PARTON: Let me just say, ‘cause you had talked about what I’ve been going through when I lost my husband, Carl, I’m sure you were referring to. But that song, after a lot of these things have been going on, it took on a new meaning. It means something different to me listening to it through a lot of my heartaches and struggles. You can apply it to whatever you are going through just to say there is hope, and just get out there and fly. For myself, I go through a lot, but I was born with a happy heart. I want to be happy. I work at being happy like some people work at being sad. So when I do go through things, I think it makes you a bigger, better person if you’re able to survive it. But I’ve always loved you just because you’re a good person, I can tell. I’ve had a chance to work with you a few times, but the big highlight was at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when your band backed everybody up. For years I’ve known about Zac Brown and the Zac Brown Band, and it’s a good one. So anyway, thank you for letting me into your world.

BROWN: Oh, I love all your people too. That’s just a sign of a great leader, when your culture around your work and around what you do helps to get you where you need to go and make sure all your bases are covered. And I would expect that, because you’re such a special soul. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions.

PARTON: Okay.

BROWN: Is there anything on your bucket list that you want to do that you haven’t gotten to do?

PARTON: No, I always say I’ve pretty much done everything, I just need a new bucket. [Laughs]. It’s like when somebody says, “What you got on your plate?” I say, “I have a platter. I don’t have a plate.” [Laughs] My life is full of all kinds of things. But I can’t think of anything that I haven’t done that I haven’t planned to do. I just want to be able to continue doing what I do. I like trying to make people happy and lift people up and glorifying god. That’s my mission in life, so I just hope to get to do more of that.

BROWN: Yes, ma’am. I love that. It takes a lot of courage to believe in yourself enough to take on this life of music and all of the challenges and the incredible victories and the defeats that happen. Is there anything that you would say to somebody that’s starting out and wants to follow their passion and their love?

PARTON: Well, everybody’s different. Their talents are different, their desires and dreams are different. Most of us want to make it. Most of us want to get there, and we have to go through a lot. A lot of people think it’s so glamorous. And once you get to be a star, they only see the glamour part, but it’s not all that easy. You got to be willing to make a sacrifice, because it just don’t come without hard work, paying dues and all that. My mom used to say—and I don’t think it’s from the Bible—but anyway, she’d always say, “To thine own self be true.” I have a saying of my own that says, “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” I think you’ve got to find out who that person is, and you’ve got to protect that little person. Don’t let somebody lead you astray. And if you are of a spiritual nature, like I am, I lean on that higher wisdom, that higher knowledge, and I draw from that. So if you don’t even believe in god, you need to believe in something greater than yourself, but be thankful for it and draw all the good energies to keep you strong and to keep you anchored.

BROWN: I love that. And then, as your career blossomed and you made it, you learn how to say no to things. And if you say yes too much to everything, then you don’t have much left over. Is there anything that you would say to someone about staying the path and keeping your identity? I know for me it comes along with a lot of sacrifice, like you said. You have to balance being with your family, you have to balance taking care of all your crew and your people, and you have to balance all the people because you become a target as well.

PARTON: Well, I think you got to stay humble. You cannot claim it for yourself. It all comes from that wonderful place. I just ask god every day to guide me and lead me and to give me wisdom to know how to handle things. And it’s hard to say no, but I learned several years ago that when you have to say no, you can at least be nice about it. You’ve got to choose your words right because you don’t want to offend anybody, because I get asked to do something almost every day, and I’ve got to save some of me for me. And I have to think about that, and I have to pray about that. But for me, the more successful I get, the more humble I become. Because I know that so many people that have tried so hard got more talent than me. Nobody ever works harder than me, but there’s a lot of people with more talent that never make it.

Some people are so talented that you think, “How on earth did they not make it?” So we can’t really answer all those questions. Some of that stuff ain’t none of our business—that’s god’s business, how he deals with each individual person. But for me, I just try to stay down home. I try to remember that little girl that was singing on the front porch in a tin can. I refer to her more than you might think, because I remember what I wanted and how much I wanted it. And then when it started happening, I wasn’t going to get the big head. So to me, being successful means doing great at what you’ve done, achieving what you want to, but being able to enjoy that and be happy with it and proud of yourself for how you’ve done it. Nobody’s above except god, and he’s above all of us. So I just try to ask for guidance and lead it. 

BROWN: Thank you. Some of the greatest answers are so simple, but it’s great to be reminded of it. For me, living in a van or sleeping on my truck window for 10 years and playing in bars for six nights a week was the best education I could have had. That’s something I try to share with other artists and people coming up because people can get famous pretty fast these days with social media and things like that. And then you don’t really have a lot of the perspective that you gain by grinding the way that we did.

PARTON: I agree. I was going to say that I see a lot of people, big stars, they don’t even want to be bothered with the fans. They don’t want to be troubled with that. Of course, you can’t do everything everybody wants you to do—you can’t sign every autograph. You wish you could, but you can’t. But some people just refuse to even try. And I always think to myself, “You don’t deserve your success, because you need to know that these are the people putting food on your table and buying them fancy clothes on your back.” The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, so I always try to keep myself in line.

BROWN: I love that.

PARTON: Well, I’m going to ask you a few questions.

BROWN: Hey, let’s go.

PARTON: Tell me about your new album.

BROWN: It’s called Love & Fear.

PARTON: I love that title.

BROWN: Well, I think we can break our decisions in life that we make based on one of those two things. If we’re afraid to take a chance and you don’t have the courage to step out and be yourself and share your art—if you make your decisions based on fear—you’re not going to get very far. So this is a really personal album. There’s one [song] called “The Sum” that I’m really proud of. I’m not a very religious person, but I’m a very spiritual person, and I pray and I know there’s a higher power because I’ve seen him use me to do things—and I’ve asked for the strength and the wisdom to do those things. That’s helped me to do things bigger than myself and to feel like I have purpose. And that’s the story that we’re telling at The Sphere as well.

PARTON: Oh yeah, I wanted to hear about that. That’s a big deal for you. You’re the second country artist that’s ever done that, right?

BROWN: It’s the biggest mountain of work. And we did this album independently, so there’s no record label. We don’t have management. It’s all in-house for us.

PARTON: I can manage you. [Laughs]. I can help.

BROWN: You’re about the only person that I want to manage me.

PARTON: [Laughs]

BROWN: That would be amazing. But in that song, “The Sum,” The sum is all the beautiful things and all the hard things together that make you who you are—and seeing all of those things as a blessing as they come down. Even though it feels like the hardest thing you might be going through, I’ve experienced enough life to know that a year from now, looking back on it, I’m going to see why I was learning that.  That’s really what that song’s about. I mean, this album is very personal to me, and being able to do this song with you, being able to have a 20-piece choir and a 40-piece orchestra and film it all and do The Sphere. We’re telling my story, the hardships that I had when I was young, and how all those things ended up shaping me into who I am—good, bad, and ugly.

PARTON: There’s some good, there’s some bad, and there’s some ugly, but that’s how we become better people. You have to learn just to do your best under any conditions and still stay a good human being, which I think you’ve managed to do. I mean, I can see that you’re humble. I love the scripture in the Bible that says, “To whom much is given, much is required, much is expected.” I don’t think that us being stars puts us above other people. We’re just lucky to be successful at what we do. We love the music, but it doesn’t matter who you are. No matter what job you’re doing or what your passion is, you want to do great at that and you want to stay anchored and, if nothing else, just be a decent human being.

BROWN: Well, you’re such an incredible role model for anyone at any level. Your choices, the way you live your life, the way you dedicate your time, the way you give back, the incredible depth of what you create—you’re an American treasure to me, and I love you, and I’m so grateful.

PARTON: Oh, thank you. I don’t know that I’m all that, but you got to believe. If nothing else, you got to believe in yourself and you got to believe in your gifts. We’re just two people out here trying to do our best, trying to uplift people. And I know, there’s a whole lot of people out there feeling the same way, especially this day and time. I think Johnny Cash had a song years ago called “What Is Truth,” and it’s like, these are the kinds of times when you think, well, what is truth? You have to be able to connect inside yourself because your church is in your heart. I think that’s where divinity lives. So I’m going to keep trying to do good as long as I can. I know you’re the same way. You have a generous heart, you play with everybody, play for everybody. It’s hard for you to say no, too, ain’t it? There’s a lot of people out there that don’t know where to turn, but you can turn inside and you can find the strength you need to get on with it and do great things.

BROWN: And not be discouraged by how the world receives it at first, because we’re always a work in progress. I know I am. I want to keep exploring, and I want to keep going and putting myself at a worthy cause.

PARTON: I know you will. This show that you’re doing in Vegas, that is a big undertaking. I just know you’re going to do great with it, and I know you’re going to feel good about it yourself. How long are you there at The Sphere?

BROWN: I’m there December and January. And then hopefully, we’ll have a chance to come back later on and do more of it. But I’m excited about the amount of work that we’ve put in, the level of attention from all the wardrobe to all the sets. It’s been two years of working on everything that we’ve been doing and—

PARTON: Wow, I’m going to try to see that.

BROWN: We would love to have you anytime.

PARTON: Yeah, I’d love to see that.

BROWN: You look great, and I’m so happy.

PARTON: Oh, well, thank you. I took off for a little while because I never had a chance to take care of some things that I needed to be taken care of, and there was just still a lot of grief. I never had time to grieve and get all through that. But whatever happens to me, I think god’s going to take care of it. I don’t think god’s done with me, and I ain’t done with me, and hopefully you ain’t done with me. [Laughs] But I’m enjoying being around home, getting a lot of stuff done. We just stopped putting together a show because I was going to do that residency starting in Vegas, but I didn’t feel good enough to work up the kind of energy it takes to work up a show. But I’ll be back out there. I’ll be doing my thing, and you’ll be doing yours.

BROWN: Anytime you need a band, you got one. You just give me a call.

PARTON: [Laughs] Not only do I have a band, I’ll have the best one. Y’all are fantastic.

BROWN: So good to see you.

PARTON: Did you get all your questions, though?

BROWN: I did. We love you.

PARTON: Okay. Love you.