Nashville, known as the capital of Tennessee, earned the title of being the country music capital of the United States. Home of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Music Row district, Nashville has inspired many country singers to fame (Dearsley, 2020). Dolly Parton is
Dolly Parton winning her 50th Grammy in 2019
famously known for being one of these signers who's music career originated in Nashville.
She first rose to fame in 1967 when she released her first album "Hello, I'm Dolly". She is known today for selling over 100 million albums, being a 50 time Grammy Award winning vocalist, winner of the Emmy for Creative Arts, and so much more. Along with her achievements she is a songwriter, actress, multi-instrumentalist, author, business women, and humanitarian (Markey, 2020).
Throughout the last 50 years, Dolly Parton has accumulated a strong and sizable fan base. According to Newcomb (2020), "Parton's fan base crosses several generations. She's an American icon, but her fans also love her for her grace, kindness, spunk and the pearls of wisdom she has shared over her nearly 60-year career"(n.d.).
In other words this base has pulled a diverse group of individuals in many generations, all being personally touched by her work and personality. These fans show their love, passion, and dedication towards Dolly through many different outlets. Named the "Dolly Parton Fan Club", this Pinterest board oversees 80 pictures of Dolly which captures her with other celebrities, families, and even her in the middle of marriage proposals. This board also includes different works of art capturing Dolly, pictures of her at different events, and her holding new born babies. Along with Pinterest, there are multiple Facebook pages specifically for those in Dolly's fandom. While Dolly Parton herself only has one page, her fandom has countless pages directed towards Dolly and her career. One of these pages named "Dolly Parton's Fans" has over 50,000 members posting her outfits, congratulating her on her achievements, and different Dolly merchandise finds. Some fandom members on this page also post their different experiences at DollyWood or one of her many dinner shows in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
"Dolly Parton Fan's" Facebook post for Thanksgiving
Along with social media pages, webpages have also been a huge platform for her fandom. "Dollymania" is a webpage which has been run by fans for the last 25 years. According to Gordon (2008), "I estimate it's taken up 15,000 hours of my life during the past dozen years!... Some folks collect stamps, some run marathons and I run a Dolly site!" (n.d.). Today, this fandom site holds information about Dolly for thousands of fans located all around the globe, averaging around 250,000 views every month (Gordon, 2008). "Dolly Parton Wikia" is another website which allows those in her fandom to explore all aspects of Dolly's early life, Television shows, music, and numerous videos she stars in. Here you can also dive into Dolly's most recent Tweets and create discussion posts with other super fans.
Social media and webpages aren't the only way Dolly's fandom have been showing their support. Fans have been role-playing Dolly, capturing her voice, personality, and her looks all across the US. Today there are multiple sites where fans can book Dolly impersonators for any occasion. Natasha is one of these impersonators who has been preforming as Dolly all over Nashville for several years. Her and others will sing many of her famous songs at their request. Along with tributes and impersonators, one seen below in a Youtube video, there are look-alike contests for those to enter. These normally occur as drag queens celebrity impersonator contests. Dolly Parton herself entered one of these contests in LosAngeles without revealing her identity. She went up against multiple drag queen impersonating herself, and lost! (Aman, 2020). But, who participates in Dolly's fandom? It is seen that many communities make up this fan base, all showing just how much she is loved and respected. As exclaimed by Markey, "More unexpected still is her ability to maintain her country, progressive feminist and LGBTQ+ fanbase simultaneously" (2020). Dolly has accumulated a huge portion of her fandom as being in the LGBTQ+ community. She has been a huge advocate for those in this community, taking a stance to their rights. Dolly once said, "I think everybody should be treated with respect. I don't judge and I try not to get too caught up in the controversy of things. I hope everybody gets a chance to be who they are". She also is a huge advocate for equality, having many nonprofits form to help with the fair treatment of women in the workplace (Markey, 2020). Overall, her fans unite from all different communities, all being supported and loved by Dolly herself.
Dolly Parton is known across the world for being a country music star, starting her career off in Nashville. Her fandom seeing this, but also her voice of equality for all. Whether it is through social media posts, webpages, or impersonating, her fans continue to show their loyalty for Dolly to this day.
Work Cited
18 top-rated tourist attractions in Nashville: Planetware. PlanetWare.com. (n.d.). November 30, 2021, https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/nashville-us-tn-nash.htm.
Aman, M. (2021, May 24). Dolly Parton once entered a dolly look-alike contest and lost - to a man. Woman's World. November 30, 2021, https://www.womansworld.com/posts/entertainment/dolly-parton-lookalike-164680.
Borden, J. (2019, December 3). More than 50 years later, Dolly Parton is still pulling fans' heartstrings. thespec.com. November 30, 2021, https://www.thespec.com/entertainment/2019/12/03/more-than-50-years-later-dolly-parton-is-still-pulling-fans-heartstrings.html.
Dolly Parton Wikia. Fandom. (n.d.). November 30, 2021, https://dolly-parton.fandom.com/wiki/Dolly_Parton_Wikia.
Dolly, T., & Martin, M. (n.d.). Awards & Milestones Archives. Official Dolly Parton. November 30, 2021, https://dollyparton.com/life-and-career/awards_milestones.
Kellyobee. (2017, June 26). Dolly Parton tribute and impersonator. YouTube. November 30, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n0BAKPulLE.
Log in or sign up to view. Facebook. (n.d.). November 30, 2021, https://www.facebook.com/groups/dollyfans/.
Markey, N., & Markey, N. (2020, July 11). Dolly Parton's message of acceptance unites fans from all walks of life. Study Breaks. November 30, 2021, https://studybreaks.com/culture/music/dolly-parton/.
Natale, N. (2021, November 2). Here's why Dolly Parton is never seen without her iconic fingerless gloves. Prevention. November 30, 2021, https://www.prevention.com/life/a32143003/dolly-parton-gloves/.
Pin by Jonathan Guffey on Dolly Parton fan club: Dolly Parton, dolly parton pictures, Dolly. Pinterest. (n.d.). November 30, 2021, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/637048309760237721/.
Yoemans, Chris.(2021, November 25). [Picture]. Facebook.https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10220833561014158&set=gm.4698722170171068
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