Dolly Parton Says She And Country Legends Like Loretta Lynn & Tammy Wynette Would Gossip About Each Other: “Just Like You Do With Family… There Was Deep Love Between Us”

A girl’s girl.

Dolly Parton just released her new book Star of the Show: My Life on Stage, which is filled with tons of great stories about her life on the road, and of my favorite ones I’ve heard her tell has to do with her late husband, Carl Dean, and his one and only time crashing the show and singing on stage. More on that HERE.

But there’s a ton of great stuff in it, and Dolly even talks about some of her fellow country stars and friends, like Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and many others. She worked with so many great women in the music business over the years, and in a video on her new Substack account, Dolly spilled some major tea, if you will.

She says she ladies like the aforementioned Tammy and Loretta, as well as people like Dottie Rambo and Lynn Anderson, but as you might imagine with any group of women, there was always a little gossip… it doesn’t sound like it was malicious at all,

“Well, I loved Tammy and Dottie and Loretta and Lynn Anderson. It’s like, I loved all the girls in country music. We were like sisters back there.

Oh, we did the gossip and stuff about each other when they’d leave the room, but we’d still welcome them back in loving them just like you do with your own family.

There was a deep love between us. We were proud to be… just proud to BE… as Minnie Pearl would say, ‘just proud to be here.’”

Dolly goes onto explain just how incredible it was during that time, as these ladies churned out chart-topping records and they were all supportive of each other because they knew how hard they all worked for their success, and they took pride in being in that club:

“We were making it. We were actually getting on the radio. We were getting played on the radio. And that had been a hard thing to do. So we were really growing as a community of women that were talented as writers and singers and performers.

So many of them were able to do shows, like Lynn Anderson. She was a pro even then. She could even host a show! And her mother, Liz, you know, they had been at it for a long time. So it was just a thing that I felt. We all took great pride in one another and we were encouraging.

There was no real jealousy between us. Like, oh, well, you got # last week… We just wanted everybody to do good.”

Dolly is obviously an incredible country artist, but she’s become a business owner, philanthropist and even actress because of her success in country, and of course, is one of the most beloved people in the world.

Of course, Dolly, Tammy and Loretta released an incredibly successful collaborative album called Honky Tonk Angels in 1993, and for many decades, they were part of a very special sisterhood that so few others can relate to.

It’s so interesting to hear about her relationship with other icons like Tammy and Loretta, who were all true trailblazer’s in every sense. They carved out their own unique paths, and made a way for so many amazing women in country to have the opportunity to have a career just as successful as theirs. Stories like these only solidify how honest, sincere and earnest they have always seemed to me, and I think it’s such a great example for so many women in this day and age who feel like they have to tear each other down to get to the top.

You can actually help each other get to the top, just like they did, and have a richer, much more fulfilled life because of it.

Of course, I guess you technically shouldn’t gossip at all, but sometimes you just have to get somethings off your chest… and if you’ve never, ever said anything about a friend that wasn’t in the room to hear it, congratulations, you should truly win an award for that. The bottom line is, they stuck together, and in an industry that was built on the good ol’ boys club, they did things their way and used their femininity as a superpower to superstardom.

I want to be just like them when I grow up… I can’t imagine how difficult it was for them at a time when it was even more male dominated than it is now, and it’s something we can all learn from in terms of supporting your friends and sticking together, because there really is enough room for everyone to have success, and these ladies proved that and then some.

It only feels right to leave you with this…

“It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”

The post Dolly Parton Says She And Country Legends Like Loretta Lynn & Tammy Wynette Would Gossip About Each Other: “Just Like You Do With Family… There Was Deep Love Between Us” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.