For Dolly Parton, passion for making music came early, and that devotion has never waned. While many artists, in their 70s, are content with releasing greatest hits collections, Dolly Parton is making new deals, with a long view of the future. On March 6, the news came from Billboard and other sources that Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Dolly Parton have put signatures to paper, inking a deal to represent the massive catalog of music from the most honored female in music.
Dolly Parton has made dozens upon dozens of dear friends through her decades of performing, and her collaborations with Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, and Kenny Rogers hold up as well as the day they were created. Newer friends like Katy Perry, Kacey Musgraves, and Maren Morris joined goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, to celebrate Dolly’s music at this year's 61st Grammys. Millions adored the “I Will Always Love You” singer-songwriter still demonstrating her vivacious energy and talent, and took her songs to a surge of over 1400% the following week.
With that kind of proven loyalty and lasting fan base, there's no better time than now to plan a home for Dolly Parton songs, past, present, and future.
Here, there and everywhere
The executive team from Sony/ATV Music stood alongside Dolly Parton as she was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year last month, preceding the official announcement of the publishing arrangement. The broad smiles from the guys in suits from the boardroom were generated from more than Dolly’s usual glow.
In addition to harboring her great hits like “Here You Come Again,” “Jolene,” and the timeless “Coat of Many Colors, the new deal applies to newly-written tracks, and covers all of North America, along with other territories not covered by the songwriter’s existing and earlier contracts.
Sony/ATV chairman and CEO, Martin Bandier described being “unbelievably excited” work with Parton again, noting that she stands out “as an exceptional songwriter” even above and beyond her iconic status and legacy as a performer.
Citing her creative catalog as “peerless” the chief executive naturally deemed his team as “honored” to represent the collection.
Dolly Parton's manager, Danny Nozell, CEO of CTK Management, concurred that “we feel this is a great home for Dolly's publishing administration and we're looking forward to the partnership.”
Writing has always been paramount and personal for Parton, who wrote her first song, “Tiny Tassel Top,” at age 10, and soon after began offering her songs on local radio.
Hard to please everyone
One of the aspects of creativity that keeps Dolly Parton ever-relevant and youthful is her openness to collaboration with other creative forces across genders and generations. Her recent success with the Netflix film “Dumplin,’” whose “shero” is a girl who idolizes Dolly and doesn't fit into the typical beauty queen mold, was done in partnership with Linda Perry, Mavis Staples, and Sia.
After seeing the enthusiastic response of the Korean boy band, BTS, from the Grammy audience, Dolly declared that she would love to do something with them.
Dolly Parton has always maintained that she never plans to stop singing or writing songs. Her most creative period of the day often comes before sunrise, credited to her Smoky Mountain upbringing. She pays honor to her father, Robert Lee, for the business savvy that helps her craft deals like the one just completed. Her worldwide children's literacy initiative, Imagination Library, has brought over 1 million books into the hands of young children, also inspired by her father, a loving and brilliant parent who was never blessed to read.
In her own social media announcement of the news, Dolly Parton assured: “Get ready, you're going to hear a lot more from me!” No better news could come for her fans or her new business partners.
Despite having songs played around the world, Dolly’s devoted husband of 53 years, Carl Dean, related through his wife on “Good Morning Britain” last month that he didn't put his wife's songs at the top of his playlist. The very private husband is very protective of the love of his life, and would rather spend quiet time at home enjoying her cooking than seeing her perform on stage. Parton put it diplomatically when she remarked that “He doesn't dislike it, but he doesn't go out of his way to play it, let's put it that way.” She credits Carl for diverse tastes, from bluegrass to Led Zeppelin.
Marital harmony takes more than a song, and Dolly Parton has a lot to celebrate in that regard in her life, too. Having a happy home to come home to and a happy home for her music makes one happy and fulfilled artist.