Country music legend Dolly Parton died today. (Her family’s statement can be viewed here.) I know she is not a Dallas fixture. But every time she was here, it was magical. Whether it was the halftime show for the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving game in 2023, hosting the ACMs in Frisco, or that time she brought her stripped-down Halos and Horns tour to the Granada in 2002. (You should also check out the Star-Telegram‘s tribute, which features photos from her 1977 Panther Hall show.)
But Parton’s visits to Dallas weren’t always so well known. Last year, as I was conducting interviews and doing research for a story about a new Charley Pride album, his family and friends reminded me, almost casually, of a connection beyond a gospel duet, “God’s Coloring Book,” released in 2006. Pride built his recording studio, CECCA, in a nondescript office complex he owned at Webb Chapel and Royal. He preferred to record in Nashville usually, so the studio was often used by advertising companies to record jingles and by other artists looking to lay down some tracks. Stella Parton recorded an album there, and then her sister Dolly came in 1984, wedging in some recording sessions for her Once Upon a Christmas album while promoting her movie Rhinestone with Sylvester Stallone.
So this is officially a Dallas loves Dolly appreciation thread now. But mostly, I agree with Kacey Musgraves. “The world feels a lot less sparkly all of a sudden,” she wrote. “So glad she’s with her Carl Dean. No one talk to me today.”
Lauren Hill, Charlize Theron, amfAR Dallas
Irma Mchedlishvili/amfAR